Ministries reluctant to spend foreign aid: minister

Ministries and divisions show reluctance in using foreign aid in project implementation and seek government funds instead, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said yesterday.

The reason is, foreign aid often comes with strings and the money has to be spent with much transparency.

"There has been a trend that our project directors feel comfortable with spending government money, not foreign aid," the minister said at a meeting with project directors.

"It's unexpected."

Kamal would soon sit with the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to find a way out, according to a statement.

The minister held meetings with 700 project directors -- out of 1,287 -- in two sessions in the morning and afternoon, in a bid to speed up implementation of the annual development programme.

A bigger ADP has been taken in the current fiscal year, but only 31 percent of the total allocation could be spent in the first seven months of the year, against 33 percent in the same period last year.

An official of the planning ministry said, when the government revises the ADP at the end of a fiscal year, it is seen that much of the foreign aid is refunded, but the government's own fund is spent almost entirely.

The planning minister asked the project directors to spend the entire amount of foreign aid and consult the ERD if they face any problem.