Economic Reporter //

Record-breaking development budget cuts. Tk 49,000 crore allocation removed from the Annual Development Program (ADP). Never in the last 50 years has there been such a large reduction in allocation. Even during the Corona pandemic, the reduction has been much less.

There are 5 main reasons behind this situation. These are – the fall of the Awami League government, non-release of funds to development partners, the strictness of the interim government, inability to work on time due to inefficiency, and the recurrence of old problems.

The National Economic Council (NEC) approved the RADP on Monday (March 3). The meeting held at the NEC Conference Center in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital was presided over by Chief Advisor and NEC Chairperson Dr. Mohammad Yunus. Planning Advisor Dr. Wahid Uddin Mahmud gave a briefing after the meeting.

Dr. Wahid Uddin Mahmud said, “We want the RADP to be small this fiscal year. Because if we cannot spend it with a large allocation, it does not look good. Along with this, big changes are coming in budget management this time. Since revenue collection is already low, allocation will not be made with a large deficit.”

He said, the Chief Advisor has ordered that all projects be included in the EMIS software. If there is an update on the status of which one, it will have to be reported. If there is no update on any project, the Finance Ministry will not release money. In addition, the Chief Advisor has instructed to give utmost importance to the environment for accepting projects.

We all know how the Department of Environment’s no was used to be accepted earlier. There have been irregularities in giving clearance to the Department of Environment to do this. They will now be strictly looked into.

At that time, it was informed that the total allocation in the ADP for the current fiscal year is 2.65 lakh crore taka (excluding allocations to autonomous institutions). Of this, 1.65 lakh crore taka is from government funds and 1 lakh crore taka is from foreign loans. But the total allocation in the revised ADP is 2 lakh 16 thousand crore taka. As a result, the allocation has been cut by 49 thousand crore taka. Out of this, 1 lakh 35 thousand crore taka will be allocated from government funds and 81 thousand crore taka from foreign loans.

The number of ongoing projects in the original ADP was 1 thousand 352 projects. Now, the number of projects has increased to 1 thousand 437 in the revised ADP. In addition, the number of unauthorized new projects has decreased by 770. Which was 910 in the original ADP.

The 5 sectors that received the highest allocation in the revised ADP are- 48 thousand 253 crore taka in the transport and communication sector, 31 thousand 897 crore taka in the power and energy sector, 20 thousand 349 thousand crore taka in education, 19 thousand 653 crore taka in housing and community facilities and 16 thousand 909 crore taka has been allocated to the local government and rural development sector.

The Local Government Department received the highest allocation by ministry (Tk 36,158.96 crore). The Power Department received the second highest allocation (Tk 21,475.11 crore) and the Road Transport and Highways Department received the third highest allocation (Tk 18,624 crore).

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) said that the total allocation in the last fiscal year’s ADP was Tk 274,674 crore. In the revised ADP, Tk 20,282 crore was deducted, and the total allocation was set at Tk 254,392 crore. At the end of the fiscal year, the ministries and departments were able to spend Tk 25,885 crore. That is, 80.92 percent of the allocation that was reduced.

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the allocation in the original ADP was Tk 256,392 crore. In the middle of the fiscal year, the allocation was set at 2 lakh 36 thousand 561 crore taka after deducting 19 thousand 442 crore taka. In the end, the expenditure was even less than this, 2 lakh 1 thousand 487 crore taka, that is, 85 percent of the allocation.

In the fiscal year 2021-22, the original allocation was 2 lakh 36 thousand 793 crore taka. Then, after deducting 17 thousand 190 crore taka, the revised allocation was given to 2 lakh 10 thousand 603 crore taka. In the end, the expenditure was 2 lakh 3 thousand 648 crore taka or 92.98 percent. In addition, the original ADP allocation in the fiscal year 2020-21 was 2 lakh 14 thousand 611 crore taka. Out of this, 5 thousand 339 crore taka was given as a revised allocation of 2 lakh 9 thousand 272 crore taka. But in the end, the expenditure was 1 lakh 71 thousand 836 crore taka, which is 82.11 percent of the allocation.

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