Worried about slowdown, govt pushes for speeding up ADP implementation

The Planning Commission is sending letters to all ministries and divisions to complete their ongoing projects as quickly as possible to accelerate the Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation rate, which is record low right now.

Aiming to expedite the ongoing development projects, the Planning Commission has taken the move after getting a green signal from the Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud.

According to the planning ministry sources, the step has been taken to avert stagnation of the economy as both public and private investment is significantly low after the fall of Awami League government in August last year.

The commission has asked the ministries and divisions to go for a quick implementation of their respective ongoing projects confirming there will be no corruption and irregularities.

"This has not been asked in the past, in the past," a senior commission official told unb.

He also said that the Planning Adviser himself has sent letters to all advisers regarding this matter.

"After the changeover, the interim government did not get time to look after this matter, now the time has come to do that," the planning commission official said speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to the media.

According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), ADP implementation during July-November was 17.1% in the last fiscal, 2023-24, and 18.4% in 2022-23. In the current fiscal year (2024-25) the rate of ADP implementation has been 12.3%, official data say.

The size of the current ADP is Tk278,288.90 crore.

After the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August in the face of a student-led uprising, the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on 8 August.

IMED data shows that ADP spending in the July-November period amounted to Tk34,214.55 crore, compared to Tk46,857.38 crore in the equivalent period of the previous fiscal year.

IMED officials cited delays in the review the interim government had initiated in all ongoing and newly proposed projects, along with increasing delays in the release of funds, as factors contributing to the slowdown in ADP implementation. Additionally, many contractors abandoned projects after the interim government assumed power in early August.

Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud recently apprehended that the country may go into economic recession if the current situation prevails with no new private investment and almost stagnant public development expenditure.

"On one side the private investors are not injecting new investment and the public development expenditure is not increased on the other. So, it will create an economic recession," he told in a briefing after ECNEC meeting.

The adviser said that the private sector is not showing any interest in investment and the interest rate has increased a lot. 

"As a result, the entrepreneurs are not showing any interest regarding new investment," he said.

The planning ministry officials apprehended that as the private investment remains stalled and public investment is experiencing its lowest ever, the economy of the country might go through a tough time in the coming days.