Bangladesh's development work has been ramping up, but the "go slow" policy adopted by the interim government since the change of power has meant that the implementation of the Annual Development Plan, or ADP, stands at 18 percent in the first six months of the fiscal year.
At least 17.97 percent of the ADP was implemented from July to December, down 4.51 percentage points from the 22.48 percent implementation rate in the previous fiscal year.
It is the lowest implementation rate in the same period over the past five years, according to the data published by the Implementation Monito-ring and Evaluation Division of the Ministry of Planning.
The implementation rate was 23.53 percent in the period in the 2022-23 fiscal year, 24.06 percent in 2021-22, and 23.89 percent in the 2020-21 fiscal.
Experts believe the slow pace has been as a result of the mass uprising near the start of the current fiscal year, which led to a changeover in power in August, a deterioration in the law and order situation, and a reshuffling of the administration.
At least Tk 500 billion was spent from July to December of the current fiscal, the latest data from the Monitoring and Evaluation Division shows. The figure stood at Tk 617.39 billion in the same period in the previous
fiscal.
However, ADP implementation picked up in the middle of the fiscal year. In December, Tk 157.87 billion was spent on development work, equivalent to 5.67 percent of the ADP. The implementation rate was 5.42 percent of the ADP in the previous fiscal year, with Tk 148.82 billion spent in December of that year.
The ousted Awami League government passed the current budget with an allocation of Tk 782.88 billion for ADP.
After taking power, the interim government prioritised the restructuring of the development programmes.
Funding was reduced for many projects taken by the last government. Hence, implementation slowed down for many ongoing projects. All these led to the drop in the spending allocated for ADP, officials said.
Usually, ADP spending remains low at the beginning of a fiscal year. However, this year, it dropped further due to the political turmoil.
In a briefing following the last meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, or ECNEC, Planning Advisor Prof Wahiuddin Mahmud hinted towards increasing project implementation in the middle of the fiscal year.
He said that the government implemented ADP worth Tk 440 billion until December of the current fiscal. The figure was Tk 620 billion in the same period of the last fiscal.
The advisor said that some new projects were coming up. The old ones were scrutinised and same had been paused for correction. "For the first time we're getting our new projects, especially those at the local level. This ECNEC meeting approved a lot of projects quickly," he said. —bdnews24.com
