ADP downsized

The slow pace in using foreign fund by ministries has forced the government to revise the allocation for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) down to Tk 41,000 crore. It cut the original outlay by 10 percent.
In the July-February period of the current fiscal year, the ministries could spend only 26 percent of their allocation of foreign fund -- lowest in the last four years.
So the allocation of foreign assistance in the revised ADP has been cut by 24 percent.
The revised ADP got the go-ahead of the government at a meeting of the National Economic Council yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting.
Though the actual proposal was for a Tk 40,500 crore revised ADP, the meeting decided to give another Tk 500 crore from the government fund under pressure from different ministries, said an official of the planning ministry.
In the revised allocation, foreign aid will be Tk 16,095 crore, down from Tk 21,205 crore in the original outlay.
However, the government fund was set at Tk 24,905 crore, which was Tk 24,795 core in the original allocation.
The planning ministry official said the Tk 500 crore fund will go to the road, railway, water resources and power sectors.
The meeting decided that the planning ministry will later make the allocations for the ministries in line with their demands.
In the revised ADP, the highest allocation went to the power sector -- Tk 7,183 crore or 17.74 percent of the total allocation, followed by transport Tk 5,908 crore or 14.59 percent, and rural development institutions Tk 5,013 crore or 12.38 percent.
Though the size of the ADP was trimmed down, the number of projects rose to 1,228, while the number was 1,039 in the original ADP.
However, the planning ministry official said another 531 projects, which are still unapproved and have no allocation, were included in the revised ADP.
The projects are likely to get allocation and included in the original ADP in the next few months, said the official. Besides, 15 projects were included for implementation under public private partnership.