Dismal foreign aid use against ambitious targets
The civil aviation and tourism ministry is one of the largest recipients of development budget this fiscal year. But, it managed to spend a paltry 5.7 per cent of the Tk 3,864 crore allocation in the first seven months.
What is even worse, it couldn't spend a penny from its foreign-aided portion, which stands at Tk 2,500 crore.
Overall, foreign aid utilisation so far this fiscal year cuts a dismal picture. The ministries and division got Tk 71,800 crore in fiscal 2019-20 on the back of huge pipelines of the cheap funds. But they were able to spend 27.96 per cent, or Tk 20,073 crore, of the total outlay.
Foreign aid utilisation in the annual development programme dropped 10.88 per cent over the seven months although the government has set an ambitious target for spending from external sources.
The government plans to spend $8 billion from the pipeline this fiscal year, up from $6.2 billion a year earlier, which is the highest yet, according to data from the Economic Relations Division.
At this point last fiscal year, foreign aid utilisation was Tk 22,526 crore, which was 37.54 per cent of total foreign aid allocation for fiscal 2018-19.
Although foreign aid commitment rises every year, the government can't spend much of it. As a result, the amount of unused aid is piling up.
Foreign aid in the pipeline surged to a record $48.11 billion at the end of the last fiscal year despite spending more of the committed money.
The amount of foreign aid has been increasing over the last few years as Russia, China, Japan and India have committed more funds to implement mega infrastructure projects.
Due the slow implementation of the projects the fund utilisation is low, although the lenders are ready to give a lot of funds to Bangladesh.
Delays in appointment of project staffers, contract approvals and revision of project design and costs are often blamed, an official said.
Weak capacity of implementing agencies, coordination issues with the planning commission, procurement delays and difficulties in managing the contractors further hinder implementation and slow down fund disbursement, he added.
The government allocated foreign funds for the upgradation work of three international airports under the civil aviation ministry, including the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
None of the airports spent a single taka from the allocation between July and January.
The ministry undertook a Tk 13,610 crore project to add a terminal at the HSIA in 2013. Later the design was amended and the first revision of the cost came in December last year, raising it to Tk 21,399 crore.
Of the top recipients, the water resources ministry received an allocation of Tk 1,456 crore from the aid pipeline. It spent only 8.46 per cent of the funds.
The railways ministry expended 14.05 per cent of the Tk 8,311 crore allocated to it.
Of the allocation from the foreign-aided portion, the Prime Minister's Office spent 14.34 per cent, the health services division 21 per cent, the roads and highways division 22 per cent, the primary and mass education division 23.24 per cent, and the science and technology ministry 28.52 per cent.
The power division stood out, using 56.69 per cent of the allocation, followed by the bridges division at 53.61 per cent and LGRD at 34.92 per cent.
The total size of ADP for the current fiscal year is Tk 215,114 crore. Of the sum, Tk 68,980 crore, or 32.07 per cent, was spent in the seven-month period. The expenditure stood at 34.43 per cent a year earlier.
Of the ADP, 81 per cent went to 15 ministries and divisions. Out of them, eight ministries and divisions spent higher than the average.
Nearly 36 per cent of government-owned funds was spent between July last year and January this year, up from 32.41 per cent a year earlier.
Fund use by the state-owned enterprises was 14.71 per cent of the allocation, which is way less than the 39.81 per cent logged in a year earlier.
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