The government has approved an Annual Development Programme (ADP) worth Tk 308,925 crore for the 2026-27 fiscal year, up from Tk 238,695 crore in the previous fiscal year. This is the first time that the government has announced such an eye-watering amount of expenditure to finance around 1,105 infrastructure and socio-economic projects across the country, with an estimated Tk 190,000 crore set to come from domestic sources and Tk 110,000 crore from development partners.
This is, no doubt, a highly prodigal ADP, perhaps influenced by political ambitions, as the new government took office little more than three months ago with election pledges for massive socio-economic development. Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury made this clear by saying that a political government must remain ambitious and move forward while fulfilling its commitments to the people.
But the development projects undertaken under the ADP have largely remained unmet. The first and foremost reason is the low implementation rate of these projects due to labyrinthine procedures caused by bureaucratic inefficiency and administrative bungling. As a result, there have been unnecessary delays because of complex and rigid approval processes, regulatory bottlenecks and, at times, administrative instability.
Additionally, the ADP depends to some extent on foreign funds, which are not always easy to secure. Delays in signing foreign aid agreements and disbursing funds frequently disrupt project timelines, forcing the government to rely heavily on revised budgets.
Corruption, cronyism, financial mismanagement and politically motivated decisions in project selection are some other factors that have stymied the implementation of development projects. What is more, procurement irregularities, favouritism and systemic bribery during contractor selection severely affect the effectiveness and financial integrity of ADP projects.
As a result, slow or delayed implementation of ADP projects has become a historical trend in Bangladesh. Evidently, ADP expenditure in the first seven months of fiscal year 2025-26 plunged to its lowest level in at least 16 years. According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), all ministries and divisions spent only Tk 50,556 crore, or a mere 21.18 percent of the total ADP outlay of Tk 238,695 crore. During the same period, the ADP execution rate stood at 21.52 percent, while the rates were 27.11 percent and 28.16 percent in FY24 and FY23, respectively.
During the ongoing fiscal year, the slowdown has been particularly conspicuous in the health sector, for which Tk 26,806 crore has been allocated in the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Local Government Division received the highest allocation of Tk 33,735 crore, while the Road Transport and Highways Division secured the second-highest allocation at Tk 30,741 crore. In the current fiscal year, the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division has utilised only 2.98 percent of its allocation, while the Health Services Division has managed just 6.59 percent during the first seven months.
This is why the need of the hour for the government is to undertake a reform agenda to ensure the timely implementation of ADP projects.
