Tk2.16 lakh crore allocated for revised ADP

The government has approved a Tk2.16 lakh crore Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current fiscal year, with the highest priority on the transport and communication sector.

The National Executive Committee (NEC), chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, approved the revised budget today (3 March), marking an 18.49% decrease from the original ADP of Tk2.65 lakh crore.

The revised RADP allocates Tk1.35 lakh crore to government funds and Tk81,000 crore to foreign funds. In the original ADP, Tk1.65 lakh crore was allocated to government funds and Tk1 lakh crore to foreign assistance.

The latest RADP is an 11.83% year-on-year decrease. The government spent Tk1.96 lakh crore, or 80% of the RADP allocation of Tk2.45 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud briefed the reporters after the meeting, saying the government has emphasised increasing financial expenditure in the revised ADP. 

"The current ADP implementation rate for this fiscal year is 22%, which is lower than the usual rate of around 27%. Several factors have contributed to this reduced spending, including more scrutiny, resulting in fewer approvals, and ongoing projects are being re-evaluated, leading to reduced expenditure," he said.

Moreover, some project directors have left, and new appointments have been made, which also contributed to the lower expenditure. 

"The government has decided to review all ongoing projects moving forward, including those that were previously not subject to scrutiny due to inactivity or potential irregularities," he added.

Planning commission officials said that this year, the demand was only Tk1.91 lakh crore, prompting an increase in RADP size through a block allocation of Tk26,000 crore to expedite the approval of new projects and increase expenditure. 

In previous years, ADP allocations were revised by around Tk500-600 crore, they added.

They also said many project directors have left, and although new ones have been appointed, they have yet to accelerate implementation.

Prioritising transport, communication

In the current fiscal year's RADP, allocations for transport, power, and energy have decreased, while education has seen an increase. The transport and communication sector received the highest allocation of Tk48,253 crore or 22.34% of ADP, but this is down from 28.87% in the last fiscal year's RADP.

The power and energy sector saw a significant reduction, receiving only 14.77% compared to 34.24% in the previous fiscal year. However, allocations for education, housing and community facilities, local government and rural development, agriculture, health, science and technology, and industry and economic services have increased.

The education sector, with an allocation of 9.42%, received the third-highest funding, up from 3.90% in the last RADP. The health sector's allocation decreased to 3.92%, from 4.18% last year.

Housing and community facilities received 9.10%, local government and rural development 7.85%, agriculture 4.46%, industry and economic services 2.06%, and science and technology 2%.