News Desk :
Bangladesh registered a 31.17% implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in the July-February period of the ongoing 2023-24 fiscal year, which is the lowest implementation rate in over a decade.
The ADP implementation rate was 32.10% during the government’s austerity drive in the last fiscal year, reports media.
The implementation rate was the lowest among the ministries and departments that received the highest allocation, including the shipping ministry, the Health Services Division, and the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.
IMED data reveals that the shipping ministry, with an allocation of Tk9,933.14 crore in ADP, managed to spend only 13.88% of its allocation in the eight months of the fiscal year.
The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education has been able to spend only 14.71% of its allocation till February.
Besides, the Health Services Division spent 20.59% of its allocation and the industries ministry spent 20.81% during this period.
In the July-February period, only Tk85,602.59 crore have been spent by ministries and departments.
Amid the low implementation, the government recently approved the revised ADP for the current financial year by reducing the allocation by Tk18,000 crore to Tk2.27 lakh crore from the original Tk 2.46 lakh crore for the ongoing fiscal year.
In a press conference held after approving the Revised Annual Development Program on 12 March, Planning Minister Major General (retd) Abdus Salam said, “The implementation of the government’s development projects has been hampered for several days due to political violence before the election last January.
And due to this, the ADP implementation rate is slightly lower in the current financial year.”
Compared to the revised ADP of the last fiscal year, the revised ADP size of the current fiscal year has increased by Tk17,434 crore or 7.66%. The size of RADP last fiscal was Tk2.28 lakh crore.
The size of government funds increased by Tk9,000 crore or 12% while the size of foreign aid increased by Tk8,434 crore or 5.51% in the RADP.
Block allocation for special needs in the RADP has increased to a record high of 283% against the fiscal’s original ADP allocation.
It has a block allocation of Tk17,984 crore for special development assistance. In the initial ADP, the allocation was Tk4,697 crore.