ADP implementation bounces back

Government spending on projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) rebounded in fiscal 2021-22 following a two-year disruption caused by Covid-19 but the implementation rate it is still slow compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Development expenditure bounced back to 92.79 per cent in the previous fiscal that ended on June 30 as the government spent Tk 203,765 crore of the Tk 219,602 crore set aside for the ADP, shows data from the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the planning ministry.

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Planning Minister MA Mannan yesterday announced the current ADP implementation rate after a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.

The average implementation rate was around 94 per cent in the two years prior to the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, according to the Bangladesh Economic Review.

Development spending stood at Tk 61,377 crore in June, up 4.2 per cent year-on-year from Tk 49,704 crore.

In FY22, the government spent Tk 126,671 crore from its coffer, which is 92.79 per cent of the allocation. However, the expenditure went past the pre-pandemic level of Tk 111,165 crore, or 95.83 per cent, registered in FY19.

Of the total amount spent on ADP projects in the last fiscal, the government used up Tk 67,033 crore from development assistance, which accounted for 92.23 per cent of the foreign aid received that year, more than 8.87 per cent from FY21.

In FY21, the government spent Tk 52,516 crore, or 83.36 per cent, of its foreign aid on ADP projects. Some 1,836 projects received allocations in fiscal 2021-22, IMED data shows.

The industry ministry was the top performer that year, spending 112.23 per cent of its revised allocation, while the Energy and Mineral Resources Division placed second by spending 103.25 per cent and the power division came in third with 101.9 per cent.

The Health Service Division was able to spend just 79.15 per cent of its budget despite being a priority sector and similarly, the Secondary and Higher Education Division spent 70.59 per cent of its allocation.

Meanwhile, the worst performer was the foreign ministry, which spent just 40.65 per cent of its allotted funds.

The agriculture ministry's ADP implementation rate stood at 97.92 per cent, the disaster management and relief ministry 95.50 per cent, the fisheries and livestock ministry 92.53 per cent, and the road transport and highways division 99.38 per cent.

The local government division, which received the highest allocation from the development budget, attained 92.23 per cent of the spending goal.

The ADP implementation rate of the railways ministry stood at 91.28 per cent as it moved fast to complete the Padma Rail Link project.

However, the government has set a record-high goal to spend Tk 246,066 crore as ADP, of which Tk 153,066 crore will come from internal sources while foreign aid will contribute the rest.

Of the total 1,349 projects being developed across the country, the government allocated Tk 58,287 crore for these 10 projects alone considering their importance to the economy.