Project implementation under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) is reportedly going slow in the current fiscal 2023-24 budget having just used 22.48 percent of budgetary allocation in six months till December last year, official figures showed.
Shipping ministrys performance was the lowest during period at 9.23 percent. Bridges division and railway achieved the highest performance at 32.45 percent and 32.33 percent of their total allocation respectively.
The government managed to spend Tk 61,739 crore of its Tk 274,678 crore ADP budget in the first six months; which was the lowest execution rate in at least over the past 13 years.
The current execution rate is even lower than FY21, when ADP spending slowed to 23.89 percent of Tk 214,611 crore allocations as per data of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the ministry of finance.
"The significantly low implementation rate is a bad sign for the economy," said AB Mirza Azizul Islam Former caretaker government advisor.
He attributed the recent general elections as a potential reason for slowdown in ADP implementation when the government attention was focused on election.
Apart from that, government revenue collection is expected to be at low this year, which may contribute to slower funding of project implementation.
The tax collection reported at Tk 165,630 crore in July-December period of FY24, missing target by more than Tk 23,200 crore, according to NBR provisional data.
Azizul Islam welcomed the rising trend of utilisation of foreign funds in various project. But spending from foreign loans for local projects fell slightly to 26.14 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal.
On the other hand, spending by state-run enterprises in July-December period increased to Tk 2,742 crore, or 23.49 percent, of Tk 11,674 crore allocated for FY24, the IMED data showed.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the planning commission at the last on January 24 to ensure proper feasibility studies to improve the quality of implementation.
To this end, she also gave direction to utilise foreign loans and grants and set up a panel of experienced project directors to make sure that important projects are effectively handled.
In terms of implementation performance among the 15 highest recipients of ADP allocations, the shipping ministrys performing was worst in July-December period.
The ministrys spending stood at Tk 917.11 crore, accounting for only 9.23 percent of its total allocation. Other low performers include secondary and higher education division, and the health services division.
The bridges division on the other hand was the top performer, spending 32.45 percent of its budget. The railway ministry came second with its expenditure standing at 32.33 percent followed by the agriculture ministry with 32.03 percent.
