‘BNP focuses on project efficiency, not mega spending’

State Minister for Planning Zonayed Saki has said the government is steering away from large-scale development projects designed to create an appearance of progress, placing greater emphasis instead on human resource development, productive investment and efficient project implementation.

Speaking at a Shadow Parliament Debate Competition titled “Implementation efficiency is more important than financing to reap the benefits of the national budget”, organised by Debate for Democracy at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) in Tejgaon on Saturday, the minister said the government has no intention of launching mega projects merely to impress the public or facilitate large-scale corruption.

“By just taking up mega projects to make people astonished and create an illusion of development, this government has no interest in mega loot from those projects. Our Finance and Planning Minister has said that many projects undertaken during the previous government’s tenure have become a burden,” he said.

Saki said the current administration has adopted a cautious approach towards mega projects after assessing previous experiences.

He explained that the government’s foremost priority is strengthening human resources, while investments in transport and communication infrastructure would be undertaken only where they are necessary to support production and economic growth.

The state minister also stressed the importance of maintaining continuity in development activities, warning that abandoning projects whenever a new government assumes office could create economic difficulties.

“We are moving towards completing projects through rationalisation and also planning how projects with limited physical progress can be integrated with new projects or, in some cases, merged with others. As a result, a major restructuring of the projects is also underway,” he said.

On revenue collection, Saki expressed confidence that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) would collect more than Tk 4 lakh crore during the current fiscal year. He attributed the optimism to what he described as increased dynamism in the NBR’s activities over the past four months.

He added that several new initiatives are expected to be introduced soon and, if successfully implemented, the government anticipates generating an additional Tk 2 lakh crore in revenue in the next fiscal year.

Addressing the country’s debt situation, the minister said Bangladesh cannot simply withdraw from its existing debt obligations because it must continue servicing loans contracted by the previous government.

He noted that borrowing and budget deficits are not new for Bangladesh and pointed out that many development projects launched in 2012 remain incomplete, leaving the current administration responsible for finishing them.

However, Saki said the government is pursuing a long-term strategy to reduce reliance on borrowing by increasing domestic revenue collection and strengthening the country’s overall economic capacity.