BM Desk : The operating and development budget spent Tk 3,86,973 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2024–25 (July–March). During the nine months, the overall budget implementation rate was 48.55 percent. During the same time frame of the most recent fiscal year 2023–2024, the implementation rate was 43.23 percent.

In the meantime, compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, development expenditures have dropped over the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Operating expenses, meanwhile, have gone up significantly. Operating expenses accounted for 62% of the allocation, up from 53.3% during the same time period in the previous fiscal year. The amount spent on development has been 25.39 percent. which over the same time period previous year was 29.55 percent fiscal year.

This information has been disclosed in a report released by the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance concerning budget execution. The previous Awami League government set a budget of Tk 7,97,000 crore for the current fiscal year. However, the interim government under Professor Muhammad Yunus made revisions, lowering it to Tk 7,44,000. The Ministry of Finance’s report has considered the primary budget.

According to the report, during the first nine months, an expenditure of 3 lakh 14 thousand 783 crore taka was incurred in the operational or underdevelopment sector. The main budget allocated 5 lakh 6 thousand 971 crore taka for this sector. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, 2 lakh 49 thousand 755 crore taka was spent. For development expenditure, the current budget allocated 2 lakh 81 thousand 453 crore taka. In the nine months, 71 thousand 459 crore taka was utilized. Comparatively, in the same period of the last fiscal year, 79 thousand 348 crore taka was spent.

Finance Ministry officials indicated that significant reductions have occurred in the execution of certain projects initiated for political reasons. The law and order challenges arising from the movement since the start of the fiscal year, coupled with the power shift in August and subsequent administrative reshuffles, have contributed to a deceleration in the progress of development initiatives.

While there have been measures to enhance cost efficiency in government spending overall, the expenses related to interest payments on uncontrolled loans acquired by the previous administration have risen sharply. Consequently, operational costs have escalated. Additionally, there is limited room for reductions in the operational budget.Dr. Selim Raihan, a professor in the Department of Economics at Dhaka University and the executive director of the private research organization SANEM, informed Samakal that the interim government had the chance to exemplify comprehensive cost-saving strategies and to reorganize priorities among sectors. There was widespread anticipation that the current administration would curb unnecessary expenditures by revising the budget set by the previous government.

An analysis of the government’s sector-specific spending reveals that the most significant increase, at 75.41 percent, in expenditure during the first nine months of the current fiscal year occurred in the general government services sector. The government allocated 73,980 crore taka to this sector from July to March of the current fiscal year, compared to 42,175 crore taka during the same timeframe in the previous fiscal year. Officials from the finance department attribute this surge primarily to the government’s interest payments on loans, driven by rising interest rates and the depreciation of the taka.

In the first nine months, the government allocated 96,174 crore taka for interest payments. In comparison, the expenditure for the same period in the previous fiscal year was 76,750 crore taka in this area. This indicates a 26 percent increase in the government’s interest payment expenditures. A total of Tk 81,499 crore was paid for domestic debt interest, while the previous fiscal year saw Tk 65,114 crore spent in this sector during the same timeframe.

During the July-March period of the current fiscal year, the government invested Tk 39,833 crore in education and technology. In the previous fiscal year, the expenditure for this sector during the same period was Tk 35,679 crore. This reflects an 11.64 percent increase in spending. Additionally, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, government spending on agriculture rose by 15.25 percent, amounting to Tk 22,856 crore, compared to Tk 19,832 crore in the previous fiscal year.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the government allocated Tk 21,261 crore for defense, up from Tk 18,475 crore in the previous fiscal year. This represents a 15 percent increase in defense spending during the same period. Furthermore, government expenditure in the public order and security sector rose by 8.73 percent, totaling 18,262 crore taka, compared to 16,795 crore taka in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The government’s spending in the health sector saw a 9.78 percent increase during the July-March period of the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, the expenditure in the transport and communication sector during this period was 6,459 crore taka, slightly down from 6,590 crore taka in the same period of the previous fiscal year, marking a 6.60 percent increase in this expenditure.

Despite a considerable rise in government spending, the current fiscal year did not see the anticipated rate of revenue collection. In just nine months, the government made 3 lakh 9 thousand 53 crore taka. This led to a 77 thousand 541 crore taka budget imbalance. The government borrowed 80 thousand 354 crore taka during this time, with 14 thousand 907 crore coming from outside and 65 thousand 447 crore from domestic sources.