The annual development programme's (ADP) implementation in July of the current fiscal year was the lowest in four years with below one percent of the allocation spent during the time.
Even five ministries and departments including the water resources, land, religion, foreign ministries and the financial institutions and public security divisions out of 55 ministries and departments could not spend a single taka, according to the report published by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED under the Ministry of Planning.
The total allocation for ADP in the current fiscal year is Tk 256,003 crore.
In July, the first month of the current fiscal year, it was possible to spend only Tk 2,455 crore, the lowest in the last four fiscal years, which was only 0.96 percent of the total allocation. In July of fiscal year 2021-22, the rate was 1.14 percent when the total allocation amounted to Tk 236,793 crore.
However, this implementation was 1.52 percent in the fiscal year 2020-21 and 1.77 percent in the fiscal year 2019-20.
An official of the planning commission said, “In the beginning of the fiscal year, the project work is slow during the monsoon season. Besides, it takes time to complete the tender process. Due to these reasons the implementation rate is slightly lower in the first month. The dry season is coming. The speed of work will increase from that time.”
Meanwhile, to deal with the economic crisis, the government has divided the development projects into A, B and C categories considering their importance. Projects which will not cause many problems in delaying implementation are kept in the C category.
The fund release for these projects has been halted.
The government allows the release of 75 percent of funds for B-category projects. As a result, 25 percent of funds for these projects will not be released.
The government will release 100 percent of the money for the projects under the A category considering their importance. All projects of foreign financing are kept in this category.
This resulted in an expenditure of 1.06 percent from foreign aid allocation in July. On the other hand, the spending from public funds stood at 0.89 percent.
According to the IMED statistics, among the Ministries and Departments that implemented less than one percent are the Ministries of Science and Technology, Secondary and Higher Education, Primary and Mass Education, Shipping and Civil Aviation and Tourism and Roads and Highways Department.
Among the Ministries and Organizations that performed well in July are Local Government, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Finance Department and Cabinet Department.
However, the top performer was the local government division, spending 2.81 percent, while the second position was held by the power division (1.91 percent).
