A Brief Lifesketch of Finance Secretary, Finance Division.

Mr. Abdur Rouf Talukder has been the Secretary of Finance Division, Ministry of Finance since July 17, 2018

Born on August, 1964, in Dhaka, Mr. Talukder joined the Bangladesh Civil Service in 1988 (1985 batch). He worked in wide range of government positions in his long illustrious career but his specialization in public finance and economic management has brought him back to Finance Division at almost every rank of his career. He is the only civil servant in Bangladesh who has experiences of working in Finance Division as Assistant Secretary, Senior Assistant Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary before being elevated to the position of Secretary. In Finance Division, he has contributed in important areas like budgetary reform, macroeconomic management etc. He was instrumental in implementing Medium Term Budget Framework (MTBF) during 2005-06 and new Budget and Accounting Classification System (BACS) in 2017-18. He is a passionate advocate of reform in Public Financial Management (PFM) including introduction of IT in PFM and one of the key contributors in drafting the Public Money and Budget management Act, 2009. He also contributed to the introduction of payroll automation for the government employees and EFT for pensioners.

Apart from his long career in Finance Division, Mr. Talukder has worked in Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Food, and Ministry of Information. He also worked in Bangladesh High Commission, Malaysia as First Secretary (Commercial).

Mr. Abdur Rouf Talukder has long experience in designing and implementing projects under Annual Development Programme (ADP). He worked in the Financial Management Reform Project (FMRP) as MTBF Specialist while he was a Deputy Secretary. Again, in the later part of his career, he led the team of officials in designing and implementing the Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP) which is a comprehensive approach to the skill development of the country. He has served as the first Executive Project Director of SEIP and then went on to become the National Project Director.   

As Secretary of Finance Division, he is Director, Board of Directors of Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank of Bangladesh); Chairman of Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited (BIFFL); Chairman, National Human Resource Development Fund (NHRDF); Deputy Chairman, Saudi Bangladesh Industrial & Agricultural Investment Company Limited (SABINCO); Chairman, Committee of Mutawallis of Islamic Development Bank-Bangladesh Islamic Solidarity Educational Wakf (IDB-BISEW); Member, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS); Director, Board of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd.; Director, Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL); Member, Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission; Member of the Board of Governors of BPATC, BIISS and National Defense College etc.

Mr. Talukder holds an M.Sc. in Development Management with major in Public Economic Management and Finance from the University of Birmingham, UK and an MBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of the University of Dhaka. In addition, he attended many professional training courses specialized in public financial management. Some of the highlights are Public Financial Management in a Changing World, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston, USA; Financial Programming and Policies (FPP), IMF Institute, Washington DC, USA;  Public Financial Management: Issues and Solutions, Crown Agents Training & Professional Development Center, London, UK; Fiscal Economics and Economic Management (FEEM), Financial Management Academy (FIMA), Dhaka, etc.

Mr. Talukder is married to Mrs. Selina Rawshan, a teacher by profession and they have one daughter and one son.