Prior to 1997, FIMA was known as the Audit and Accounts Training Academy (AATA), under the control of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh. It catered to the auditing and accounting needs of officials of the Audit and Accounts Department. It also gave accounting training to relevant officials of some ministries, departments and corporations, as and when requested.

In 1991, the GoB-appointed CORBEC (Committee on Reforms in Budgeting and Expenditure Control) recommended wide-ranging reforms in the broad area of government financial management. This included, the need for -

financial management training of GOB officers at various levels across the government;
 

specialized training for officials of the Audit and Accounts Department; and
 

institutionalization, of this training, on a sustainable basis.
 

As part of its terms of reference, Phase 2 of the RIBEC Project (March 1996 - March 1997) carried out a feasibility study into ways of implementing CORBEC recommendations on financial management training. The findings of the study were implemented in Phase 2B RIBEC (April 1997 - December 1999), with the following objectives:

create a core group of GOB officers, with financial management expertise to provide the capability to manage, sustain and extend the reforms initiated under the RIBEC Project; and

establish the basis of a longer-term programme of training using some officers from the core group as trainers.

The study also highlighted the need to identify a suitable institution, which could host this training programme, on a sustainable basis.

In 1997, the Steering Committee of RIBEC approved the recommendations made in the study and proposed that this training programme might be institutionalized in the Audit and Accounts Training Academy by re-naming it as Financial Management Academy (FIMA), with a wider mandate. The recommendations of the Steering Committee were later approved and, in September 1997, AATA's original wing was extended with an additional, adjacent wing, refurbished and renamed as the Financial Management Academy (FIMA) by the Government of Bangladesh.

Traditionally, prior to RIBEC, financial training was based on constrained, non-participative methods focused on rules compliance. The RIBEC approach, however, shifted the focus to competency and skills development for students attending the Academy. It took them well beyond simple guidance on implementation of processes, into a studied appraisal of best practices in the modern science of financial management. 

In particular, FIMA was given a wider mandate to provide financial management training and guidance to officers across the GOB, in addition to its on-going training programme for officers and staff of the Audit and Accounts Department.

One of the principal approaches being applied, to drive GoB's financial management changes forward, is a 10-week training programme held at FIMA for selected mid- and junior-level government officers.

The programme, which has DFID support, is known as MAAB, as it provides training in Management, Accounting, Auditing and Budgeting. It is linked to an MA degree course in Government Financial Management at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. As at July 2000, around 180 officers have received MAAB training, with 61 selected for the MA degree course. 

Further details of MAAB follow, at "Training Courses."