Government of Bangladesh

For the entire governing system, see Politics of Bangladesh.

Government of Bangladesh
বাংলাদেশ সরকার (Bengali)
Central government
Government Seal • National Emblem
Overview
Established	10 April 1971 (1971-04-10)
State	Bangladesh
Leader	Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
Appointed by	President Mohammed Shahabuddin
Main organ	Cabinet of Bangladesh
Ministries	23 advisers, 353 departments and directorates
Responsible to	Parliament of Bangladesh
Annual budget	৳7.90 trillion (US$65 billion)(2025–26)
Headquarters	Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka
Website	bangladesh.gov.bd

The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the legislature (the Jatiya Sangsad), and the judiciary (the Supreme Court). Bangladesh is a unitary state and the central government has the authority to govern over the entirety of the nation. The seat of the government is located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

The executive government is led by the prime minister, who selects all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet. After the resignation of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, the current interim government is led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus as chief adviser.

Head of state

The president serves as the head of state, primarily fulfilling ceremonial duties, while the prime minister, as the head of government, holds the actual executive authority. The president is the commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The president is elected by the legislature every five years and has normally limited powers that are substantially expanded during the tenure of a caretaker government, mainly in controlling the transition to a new government. Bangladesh has instituted a unique system of transfer of power; at the end of the tenure of the government, power is handed over to members of a civil society for three months, who run the general elections and transfer the power to elected representatives. This system was first practiced in 1991 and adopted to the constitution in 1996.

As head of the state, the president can grant pardon to a man sentenced to death penalty or lessen the punishment. In some cases, it also performs some legislative and judicial functions.

Prime minister

The prime minister is ceremonially appointed by the president, in accordance with Article 56(3) of the Constitution, from among the members of parliament who, in the president’s opinion, appear to command the support of the majority of the members. The cabinet is composed of selected ministers. The prime minister exercises supreme power in Bangladesh.

Cabinet and ministries

Main article: Cabinet of Bangladesh

The executive branch of the Government of Bangladesh administers the state and implements laws enacted by the Jatiya Sangsad. It is responsible for maintaining internal law and order, conducting foreign relations, and protecting the defence, independence, and sovereignty of the country.

The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister and consists of Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and Deputy Ministers. According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, all members of the Cabinet must be members of the Jatiya Sangsad, or they must be elected to the Parliament within six months after their appointment.

Each ministry is led politically by a Minister and administered by a Secretary, a senior civil servant who oversees policy implementation and manages the overall operation of the ministry and its subordinate divisions.

Ministries of the Government of Bangladesh

#	Ministry	Departments/Divisions
1	Ministry of Defence	Armed Forces Division; Other defence agencies
2	Ministry of Home Affairs	Public Security Division; Security Services Division
3	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Political Affairs; Multilateral & Bilateral Wings
4	Ministry of Education	Secondary & Higher Education Division; Technical & Madrasa Education Division
5	Ministry of Finance	Finance Division; Internal Resources Division; ERD; Financial Institutions Division
6	Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs	Legislative & Parliamentary Affairs Division; Law & Justice Division
7	Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives	LGRD Division; Rural Development & Co-operatives Division
8	Ministry of Public Administration	Civil Service Administration; Field administration
9	Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology	ICT Division; Posts & Telecommunications Division
10	Ministry of Industries	BOI; BSTI; BSCIC; BCIC
11	Ministry of Housing and Public Works	Public Works Department; Urban development authorities
12	Ministry of Youth and Sports	Sports federations and youth agencies
13	Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment	BMET; BOESL
14	Ministry of Religious Affairs	Hajj Office; Waqf Administrator; Islamic Foundation; Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Welfare Trust
15	Ministry of Agriculture	DAE; BADC; Agricultural bodies
16	Ministry of Science and Technology	Atomic Energy Commission; NSTD
17	Ministry of Commerce	Trade organizations; Tariff Commissions
18	Ministry of Textiles and Jute	BJMC; BJRI; Jute Development Boards
19	Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism	CAAB; Biman Bangladesh Airlines; Tourism Board
20	Ministry of Primary and Mass Education	Primary education and mass education agencies
21	Ministry of Food	Food Distribution Department
22	Ministry of Land	Land Administration; Land Records & Surveys
23	Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources	Power Division; Energy & Mineral Resources Division
24	Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges	Road Transport & Highways Division; Bridges Division
25	Ministry of Railways	Bangladesh Railway
26	Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs	CHT Affairs Boards
27	Ministry of Social Welfare	Social Service Department
28	Ministry of Women and Children Affairs	Women and Child Development Agencies
29	Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	Health Services Division; Medical Education & Family Welfare Division
30	Ministry of Planning	Planning Commission; Statistics Division
31	Ministry of Cultural Affairs	National Museum; Bangla Academy
32	Ministry of Liberation War Affairs	Freedom Fighter welfare agencies
33	Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief	Disaster Management Department
34	Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change	Department of Environment; Forest Department
35	Ministry of Water Resources	BWDB; Water authorities
36	Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock	Fisheries Department; Livestock Services
37	Ministry of Labour and Employment	Labour regulation bodies; Skills agencies
38	Ministry of Shipping	CPA; MPA; BIWTA; BIWTC
39	Ministry of Information and Broadcasting	BTV; Bangladesh Betar; PID; BFDC

Agencies

Main article: Government agencies in Bangladesh

The executive calculates the income and expenditure of the government. It also performs various public welfare services such as; education, agriculture, establishment of industry, trade and commerce, land reform, tax and revenue collection. Beside this, it also accepts and implements various development projects.

Government in parliament

See also: Jatiya Sangsad

The legislature of Bangladesh is unicameral. Called the Jatiya Sangsad in Bengali, it is the parliament of Bangladesh. The speaker presides over meetings of the Jatiya Sangsad and conducts its business in an orderly fashion. The current Jatiya Sangsad contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women and 300 seats for elected members, which are apportioned on elected party position in the parliament. The twelfth national parliamentary election was held on 7 January 2024. The recently resigned speaker is Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, who was presiding over the tenth, eleventh and twelfth parliament. She is the first woman to have held this office.

Local government

Main article: Local government in Bangladesh

At the local government level, the country is administratively structured into divisions, districts, subdistricts (upazilas), unions, and villages. The lowest level of local government representative are local officials of union council those who are elected at the union level election. All larger administrative units are run by members of the civil service.

Finance

Economy

See also: Economy of Bangladesh

Taxation

Main article: Taxation in Bangladesh

Annual budget

See also: 2022 National budget of Bangladesh

Issues

Corruption

Main article: Corruption in Bangladesh

See also

• Politics of Bangladesh
• List of office-holders in the Government of Bangladesh
• Judiciary of Bangladesh
• List of political parties in Bangladesh
• List of People's Republic of Bangladesh governments