A relatively small ‘Annual Development Programme (ADP)’ will be prepared by the government and implemented in the upcoming fiscal year 2025-2026. At just Tk 5 trillion, or 2 percent more than the initial budget for the current fiscal year 2024-2025, the initial size of the ADP is Tk 2.70 trillion. Never before has such a small ADP been made in just one year.
The Finance Department has disclosed this information. By midyear, it becomes evident that the majority of the Tk 2.65 trillion ADP allocated for the current fiscal year cannot be spent. The ADP for the current fiscal year is being drastically trimmed as a result. Tk 49 trillion has been cut in total. The revised ADP has been determined to be worth Tk 2.16 trillion. Consequently, the revised ADP’s size is 18% smaller than the original ADP, a record reduction. There has never been such a drastic drop in ADP in such a short period of time.
According to the most recent data provided by the Planning Commission, only 6% of ADPs were implemented during the first four months of the current fiscal year, which runs from July to October. Just 23,514 crore taka were spent during this time, compared to the estimated 88,033 crore taka. As a result, the government has given the directive to refrain from creating unrealistically high ADPs for the upcoming fiscal year.
It has been determined through an analysis of the ADPs for the fiscal years 2015–2016 through 2023–2024 that both the original and revised ADPs could not be implemented in their entirety. Ninety-five percent of the amended ADP has been put into practice.
The Finance Department’s “Economic Survey-2022” indicates that the fiscal years 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 saw the greatest implementation of ADPs during this time. During these two fiscal years, 95% of the revised ADP implementation rate was achieved. The lowest implementation, however, occurred in the 2019–2020 fiscal year. The ADP was only implemented at 80% in this fiscal year. The ADP implementation rate was 86 and 87 percent in the ensuing two fiscal years, respectively.
The Finance Department’s recommendations to accelerate the adoption of ADP
During the 2018 Budget Monitoring Committee meeting, the Finance Department offered some suggestions to speed up the adoption of ADP. Among these suggestions was making sure that funds were allocated within the authorized budget to each ministry’s or department’s top projects. Reducing or stopping the allocation of funds to less significant projects in favor of financing new projects in the event that there is insufficient money for new priority projects. The Economic Relations Department should arrange frequent monitoring meetings to make sure that foreign aid is released and used for the 100 projects that received the most of it. Retired government officials should be considered for appointment as contract-based project directors in order to address the scarcity of qualified project directors. to quickly put into action ten significant growth-supporting projects, etc.
Nevertheless, thus far, not all of these suggestions have been put into practice. As a result, the revised ADP’s implementation is not proceeding as planned.
