ADP spending up 37pc in Jul-Jan

The government's development spending rose 36.88 percent year-on-year to Tk 54,718 crore in the first seven months of the current fiscal year on the back of an increased use of foreign aid.

Project aid utilisation went up by 120 percent to Tk 23,336 crore during the period, according to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division.

In comparison, the use of the government's own funds rose 10.72 percent. However, development spending by state-owned enterprises declined 22 percent.

The government has set aside Tk 164,085 crore for development spending for 2017-18. But the rate of implementation has not been that higher compared to the total size as the use of the government's own fund witnessed a slow pace.

From July to January, the ministries and divisions spent 33.35 percent of the total outlay, slightly up from 32.41 percent in the same period a year ago.

Project aid utilisation stood at 38.63 percent of the allocation while it was 26.52 percent in the same period last fiscal year. Allocation from the government's own fund in the ADP was Tk 95,515 crore, of which 30.02 percent was spent in the seven-month period, down from 36.63 percent in the corresponding period last fiscal year.

The spending, however, rose in terms of amount during the period, to Tk 28,677 crore against Tk 25,899 crore a year earlier.

State-owned enterprises utilised only Tk 2,706 crore, or 33.19 percent, against their allocation of Tk 8,154 crore. They had spent 27.40 percent of their allocation during the same period last fiscal.   

Of the 15 large ministries and divisions that account for 80.83 percent of the allocation, seven spent a higher amount than the average.

The power division spent the highest 68.35 percent followed by the local government division (40.48 percent), the ICT division (40.13 percent), the science and technology ministry (40.17 percent), the agriculture ministry (38.20 percent), the energy and mineral resources division (36.45 percent), and the road transport and highways division (34.59 percent).