ADP execution hits record low, only 12.29pc utilised
Muhid Hasan :
Only 12.29 percent of the government’s annual development programme (ADP) was implemented in the first five months (July-November) of the current financial year of 2024-25, dragged to a record low utilization in a decade.
During the July-November period, Tk 34,214.55 crore was utilized, a sharp decline from Tk 46,857.38 crore spent during the same period last fiscal year which represented 17.06 percent of the ADP allocation at the time, according to the latest Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) data published on Sunday.
In the last decade, the second lowest ADP implementation rate was recorded at 16.84 percent in the fiscal year 2015-16.
Earlier, in the first four months of FY25, the ADP implementation rate stood at only around 8 percent, the lowest figure in recent years.
Government agencies managed to implement development projects worth Tk 21,978 crore during July- October period, according to the IMED.
Regarding the low rate of ADP Implementation, IMED officials said fund releases for many of the ongoing and newly proposed projects, currently under review by the government, are being curbed.
After the new government came to power, the contractors in many projects left. Likewise, a substantial sum of funds of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) could be cut from the local-resources part of the outlay rather than reduction in the external funds or project aid, they said.
ADP outlay might shed Tk 50 thousand crore to count down to Tk 2.15 lakh core from the original size of Tk 2.65 lakh crore in the budget-trimming process, they added.
Under the ADP, nearly 1352 development projects have been undertaken for implementation in the current FY2025 to facilitate the country’s economic growth.
Planning commission officials has said since the project-execution performances of the ministries and their agencies are still poor,
the commission may cut the original ADP for streamlining its implementation.
While the government is also facing challenges in speeding up the execution of development projects, experts are urging for greater focus on overcoming delays in order to meet the targets set for the rest of the fiscal year.
IMED latest data indicate that seven ministries and divisions failed to utilize even 3 percent of their allocated funds between July and November this fiscal.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources recorded the highest expenditure, using 58.13 percent of its allocation in first five months of FY25.
Other notable performers include the Cabinet Division 37.61 percent, implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation Division 30.88 percent, the Ministry of Labor and Employment 25.17 percent, local government Division 20.31 percent.
Meanwhile, the total ADP implementation in the last fiscal year FY24 was lowest in four years to 80.92 per cent of the even pared-down budget. However, in FY2023 the ADP-execution rate was recorded 85.17 per cent.