Staff Reporter :
Progress in the implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) remained significantly sluggish in the first ten months of the current fiscal year (2024-25), as government agencies managed to utilize less than half of the revised outlay for the year.
From July to April of FY25, ministries and divisions used only 41.31 percent of the allocated funds-this is the lowest ADP implementation rate on record, according to a report published by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) on Monday.
During this period, Tk 93,424.83 crore was spent from the Revised ADP allocation. In contrast, the implementation rate during the same period of the previous fiscal year was 49.26%, and it was 50.33 percent in FY23.
According to IMED data, government development spending in the first 10 months of FY25 was Tk 31,890.85 crore lower than the same period last fiscal year, which amounted to Tk 1,07,612.45 crore in FY24. This represents the lowest ADP implementation for any fiscal year to date, based on IMED records available since FY2011-12.
For FY25, the government allocated Tk 2,26,164.95 crore in the RADP, including funds from its own sources. According to IMED, Tk 51,273 crore was spent from government funds in the first 10 months of the fiscal year-38 percent of the total allocation. In the same period last year, Tk 70,908 crore was spent, which was 44 percent of the government fund allocation.
During the same period, Tk 35,559 crore (43.9%) was spent from foreign aid funds, compared to Tk 48,468 crore (58 percent) in the previous year. Additionally, Tk 6,593 crore was spent from organizations’ own funds during the first 10 months of FY25.
Officials have pointed out that a trend has emerged in Bangladesh where ADP funds are hurriedly spent toward the end of the fiscal year. This rush often leads to waste and corruption in public spending.
The government allocated the highest ADP funds to 15 ministries and divisions, which together received 74.48% of the total ADP allocation. The overall ADP implementation largely depends on these ministries and divisions. However, several of these ministries have very low implementation rates. For example, the Health Services Division has spent only 14.90% of its allocation.
Officials noted that the health sector generally struggles with fund utilization due to limited capacity. Moreover, the Fifth Health, Nutrition, and Population Programme-a five-year plan that was scheduled to begin in July-has still not been approved, which has further stalled ADP spending in the health sector.
Among the other highest-funded ministries and divisions, the Bridge Division spent 29.96 percent, the Ministry of Shipping implemented 29.83 percent, the Ministry of Railways spent 33.27 percent and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism spent 39 percent. On the other hand, the Energy Division spent 85.85 percent of its allocation.
Other notable spenders include the Power Division (61.97 percent), the Ministry of Agriculture (62.46 percent), the Local Government Division (54.32 percent), the Secondary and Higher Education Division (50.66 percent), the Ministry of Water Resources (49 percent), the Ministry of Housing and Public Works (48 percent), and the Roads and Highways Division (46.31 percent).
The ADP implementation rate for FY24 was 80.92 percent, while in FY23, the ADP execution rate was 85.17 percent Meanwhile, the National Economic Council (NEC) on Sunday approved a Tk 2.3 lakh crore ADP for the upcoming fiscal year FY26-representing a significant reduction from the original ADP of the current fiscal year, reflecting the interim government’s austerity drive and cuts to low-priority projects.
The approved ADP represents a 13.20 percent or Tk 35,000 crore decrease from the current fiscal year’s original ADP but marks a 6.48 percent or Tk 14,000 crore increase compared to the revised ADP.
