Currently, 56 ministries and departments spend over Tk 2000 billion under the Annual Development Plan (ADP). Therefore, the Public Procurement Act was enacted in 2006 to bring transparency and accountability in public procurement. Later in 2008, procurement rules were framed and CPTU was formed.
Now, the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority is being formed in a big way. The authority will closely monitor the issues with regard to government procurement. For this the authority has been given additional powers. The Authority shall have the right to call for any purchase documents and tenders at any time. However, the biggest weakness of this government agency is that it will not be able to take punitive action if there is any disturbance in the procurement process. Its power will be limited to suggestions, recommendations and directions.
The draft law states that if the authority does not comply with government procurement laws and regulations, it will recommend the buyer to change or correct the procurement process.