ADP target missed again
The government managed to use 91.37 percent of its budget for development spending last fiscal year, which is the lowest in five years.
The development is a downer for Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, who on several occasions said the government would be able to achieve 100 percent implementation of the Annual Development Programme in fiscal 2014-15.
He blamed the 91 days of political unrest for the missed target.
“I couldn't do it this time, but I'll hit the 100 percent-mark someday. That I promise you,” he said while releasing the data on ADP implementation yesterday at a press briefing at the NEC.
In fiscal 2014-15, Tk 68,531 crore was spent off the Tk 75,000 crore ADP outlay, according to the Implementation Monitoring Evaluation Division.
In percentage terms, this is the lowest implementation since fiscal 2010-11. However, in terms of amount, ADP implementation accelerated 20.41 percent year-on-year: in fiscal 2013-14, Tk 56,913 crore was spent.
Last fiscal year, the government managed to spend 92 percent of the amount it had committed for ADP purposes from its own funds, which is the lowest in six years.
It spent 91 percent of the donor's funds, which is the highest in 10 years.
In the last few years, the planning ministry has started monitoring the development expenditure of the autonomous bodies, which in fiscal 2014-15 spent 90 percent, or Tk 2,548 crore, of their total allocation.
The planning minister said a big portion of the money allocated for the Padma Bridge was returned, which brought down the implementation figures. Some Tk 3,300 crore was sent back.
A high official of the planning ministry said the shutdowns and blockades disrupted transportation of construction materials such as rods and cements.
Giving an example, an IMED official said the entire work of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway depends on smooth transportation of construction materials.
But the contractors were unable to carry the materials to the project sites due to political violence, he added.
However, of the 10 large ministries, the performance of seven ministries or divisions, who got 71 percent of the total ADP outlay, was above average, according to IMED statistics.
They are: local government division (96 percent), power division (101 percent), road transport and highways division (100 percent), primary and mass education (97 percent), education (98 percent), railways (99 percent), and science and technology ministry (100 percent).
The other three large ministries and divisions -- energy and mineral resources division (87 percent), bridges division (87 percent), and health and welfare (85 percent) -- performed lower than the average.
Another reason for the below-par implementation figure is that there are many ministries whose projects took off way back but could not be progressed much due to various complications, including acquisition of lands, Kamal said.
For instance, a few days back a proposal was sent to him for revision. The project was taken up in 2006 and was scheduled to be complete by 2010, he said.
The revision proposal was rejected, and the planning ministry identified 100-125 such projects, where only 1 to 3 percent of the allocations have been spent.
Such projects would be taken out of the ADP schedule, the planning minister added.
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