Ministries slow in foreign fund use

Ministries and divisions lag in using foreign funds under the annual development programme (ADP) in the current fiscal year.
In the first three months of the current fiscal year, the project aid utilisation was Tk 824 crore or 4 percent of the allocation, down from Tk 841 crore or 5 percent in the same period of the last fiscal year.
In the first three months of fiscal 2009-10, the foreign fund use was Tk 1,168 crore or 9 percent of the allocation.
The use of foreign funds usually falls below local funds, as development partners resort to more scrutiny in releasing funds to ensure accountability in the use of foreign assistance.
In the current and last fiscal years, the foreign fund utilisation shrank abnormally, which worried the government high-ups. The cabinet secretary wrote a letter last month to secretaries urging them to use more foreign funds in the projects.
The planning minister held a meeting with the local representatives of the development partners and the secretaries of the ministries and divisions last month.
Total ADP implementation was Tk 4,835 crore or 11 percent of the total outlay in the first three months of the current fiscal year, which was Tk 3,359 crore or 9 percent of the outlay in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The size of the total ADP was Tk 46,000 crore in the current fiscal year. The use of local fund was Tk 4,011 crore or 15 percent in the current fiscal year, which was Tk 2,518 crore or 11 percent in the last fiscal year.
In the ADP, 10 ministries and divisions received 68 percent of the total allocation, with the implementation rate between 1 percent and 22 percent in the first three months of the current fiscal year.
The biggest spender was the Power Division with 22 percent, followed by the Local Government Division with 16 percent and Railway Division with 13 percent.