NN Online:
The National Economic Council (NEC) approved a Tk 2,16,000 crore “Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP)” for the current fiscal year (FY25) on Monday, with the transport and communications sector receiving the highest priority.
The approval came from a meeting of the NEC held at the NEC Conference Room in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area on Monday with NEC Chairperson and Chief Adviser Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
The original ADP outlay for the current fiscal year was Tk 2,65,000 crore. The RADP allocation in the current fiscal year witnessed a decrease of Tk 49,000 crore or 18.49 per cent of the allocation.
Of the approved RADP allocation of Tk 2,16,000 crore, Tk 1,35,000 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion while the rest of Tk 81,000 crore will come from project loans or grants.
However, considering an allocation of Tk 10,126.29 crore from the concerned organisation’s own fund, the overall RADP outlay stood at Tk 2,26,126.29 crore.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said from now on, they would try to speed up the pace of implementation of the RADP.
He said the chief adviser in the day’s NEC meeting also noted that stability has almost been restored while the implementation rate of the revised ADP could be further expedited.
Turning to the implementation rate of the ADP during the July-January period of the current fiscal year (FY25), the planning adviser said the implementation rate during this period reached nearly 22 per cent or exactly 21.52 per cent although the utilisation rate during this period in the previous fiscal years totalled 30 per cent on an average.
He said the concerned ministries, divisions and the implementing agencies would try to deliver their all-out efforts to speed up further the implementation rate.
Dr Mahmud also informed them that they would try to make the tender process of work much more transparent in the coming days.
Putting more emphasis on the health and education sector, he said more doctors and nurses should be appointed in the health sector while more training should also be imparted to them.
Out of the 57 ministries and divisions, the RADP allocation of eight ministries and divisions witnessed 17.28 per cent increase while the allocation of 49 ministries and divisions witnessed 28.71 per cent decline.
Out of the 1437 projects with allocations in the RADP, some 1212 are investment projects, some 28 are survey projects, some 112 are technical assistance projects while 85 are from own financing. Besides, some 313 projects have been kept for completion in the current fiscal year.
Of the highest allocation recipient five sectors, the transport and communication sector received the highest allocation of Tk 48,253.01 crore (22.34 per cent), followed by Power and Energy Sector with Tk 31,897.61 crore (14.77 per cent), Education sector Tk 20,349.89 crore (9.42 per cent), Housing and community facilities Tk 19,653.05 crore (9.09 per cent), and Local Government and Rural Development Tk 16,909.48 crore (7.83 per cent).
Out of the highest allocated 10 ministries and divisions, the Local Government Division received an allocation of Tk 36,158.96 crore (16.74 per cent), followed by Power Division with Tk 21,475.11 crore (9.94 per cent), Road Transport and Highways Division Tk 18,624.61 crore (8.62 per cent), Primary and Mass Education Tk 12,764.01 crore (5.91 per cent), Science and Technology Tk 12,129.63 crore (5.62 per cent), Ministry of Railways Tk 10,227.61 crore (4.74 per cent), Ministry of Water Resources Tk 10,211.72 crore (4.73 per cent), Ministry of Shipping Tk 7,153.70 crore (3.31 per cent), Bridges Division Tk 5,848.54 crore (2.71 per cent) and Health Services Division Tk 5,668.82 crore (2.62 per cent).
Some 78 projects have been kept for implementation under the PPP initiative in the RADP of the current fiscal year while some 232 projects have been kept for implementation under the Climate Change Trust Fund.
