ADP spending rises 42pc in Jul-Oct

Development spending rose 42 percent year-on-year to Tk 23,815 crore in the first four months of the current fiscal year on the back of increased use of foreign aid.

The spending by the ministries and divisions between July and October was 14.51 percent of the total allocation for the annual development programme, according to figures from the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division.

At this point last fiscal year, Tk 16,772 crore was spent, which was 13.60 percent of the total allocation.

The government has allocated Tk 164,085 crore for development spending.

The use of foreign aid has been higher both in terms of implementation rate and amount.

In the first four months, aid spending stood at Tk 11,119 crore, almost treble the amount of Tk 4,861 crore from the same period a year earlier.

Aid utilisation was 18.80 percent in July-October in contrast to 12.15 percent in the same period a year ago.

The government is contributing Tk 95,515 crore to the ADP from its own accounts. Of which, 12.10 percent was spent in the four-month period.

The implementation rate was 14.32 percent in the same period last fiscal year, meaning this year's outlay fell by more than 2 percentage points.

The spending, however, rose in terms of amount: Tk 11,555 crore was spent in the four-month period against Tk 10,124 crore a year earlier.

A planning ministry official said a major target of the government this fiscal year has been to speed up the foreign aid-funded mega projects.

The government plans to spend about $7 billion in foreign aid in the current fiscal year.

The spending is on the right path, the official said.

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

The power division spent the highest, 35.95 percent, followed by the local government division 22.67 percent, the agriculture ministry 19.72 percent, the road transport and highways division 19.65 percent and the shipping ministry 15.71 percent.

On the other hand, some ministries and divisions underperformed.

One of them is the bridges division, which is implementing a number of mega projects. But it could only spend 5.12 percent of the allocation it received in July-October.

The biggest project under the division is the Padma Bridge project, which got Tk 5,524 crore for the current fiscal year. But only Tk 342 crore was spent.

The total cost of the priority project is Tk 28,793 crore, of which half has been spent till October this year.

The budget set aside Tk 10,502 crore for the science and technology ministry in the current fiscal year, with majority of the fund going to the Rooppur nuclear power project.

In the first four months, the ministry spent only Tk 218 crore, or 0.21 percent, of the allocation.

A planning ministry official said the construction work of the power plant will start in full swing from January next year.

“So, at the end of the fiscal year the implementation rate will improve,” he said.

The ICT division spent 11.05 percent of the ADP fund, the health services division 9.32 percent, and the secondary and higher education division 11.34 percent.

The railways ministry, the primary and mass education ministry, the energy and mineral resources division, the housing and public works ministry and the water resources ministry were able to spend between 4.15 percent and 9 percent.