ADP execution rate ‘bleak’ says Zonayed Saki

State Minister for Planning Zonayed Saki expressed dissatisfaction over the implementation rate of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) amid a slowdown in of development projects during the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

Addressing a discussion on the annual budget in Dhaka, Saki said the BNP government is trying to overcome this situation.

Bangladesh has seen 48 percent of the ADP implemented in the first 11 months of the outgoing fiscal year, the lowest execution rate over the period in 16 years.

Saki said taxes on 60 essential commodities had been reduced to shield consumers from inflationary pressures.

He added that the government had also implemented measures to enable small traders to pay minimum taxes as part of efforts to broaden the tax base.

The event was chaired by Debate for Democracy Chairman Hassan Ahamed Chowdhury Kiron. In his remarks, Kiron said the country’s economy had been weakened by policy failures, irregularities, and corruption during the Awami League’s tenure, leaving the current administration to inherit a fragile economic situation.

He said budget benefits depended not only on securing adequate financing but also on effective implementation.

Alleging widespread corruption in development projects under the previous government, he claimed that both large and small projects had been significantly overpriced.