With 2 months left, 45% ADP fund still unspent
Money is spent in a hurry few months before deadline hurting the quality of projects
To utilise the full amount of the revised Annual Development Programme (ADP) allocation, Tk97,346 crore is to be spent in the next two months (May-June), which is 45% of the total allocation.
According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), the ADP implementation during July-April of the current fiscal year was 55.18%. In terms of money the expenditure has been so far Tk1,19,830 crore.
IMED data says in April alone, the expenditure was Tk20,895 crore, which is 9.62% of the Annual Development Program (ADP) allocation – the highest expenditure in a single month, which also surpassed the rate of pre-pandemic times.
Experts say spending more than twice as much each month in May and June will be a challenge.
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Dr Mustafa K Mujeri, former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said, "In our country, ADP money is not spent at the beginning of the financial year. More than half of the allocation is spent in the last two-three months."
He pointed out that during this time the money will be spent in a hurry and as a result it will not be possible to implement quality projects. More government money will be wasted.
"For quality implementation of the ADP, it is necessary to spend money from the beginning of the financial year with proper planning. The reasons behind slow implementation have been identified. Now we need to adopt proper policies, otherwise, the development projects will not yield benefits," he added.
Implementation rates for ministries with highest allocation
A total of 83% of the revised ADP has been allocated to 15 ministries and departments. Among the ministries and departments with the highest allocation, the health department is lagging behind like every financial year. They have been able to spend 39% of the allocation in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.
The health department failed to spend However, a significant portion of the annual allocation is not spent. In the last financial year, the health department could not spend 42% of the allocation.
Among the ministries and departments that have spent less than half of the money allocated in the first 10 months of the fiscal year are -- Ministry of Shipping 40.52%, Prime Minister's Office 45%, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism 43.76% and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education 47.28%.
The Power Division, the Ministry of Railways, the Local Government Division and the Ministry of Science and Technology spent 60% of the allocation.
The highest 83% was spent by The Ministry of Industries.
According to IMED data, ADP implementation was 54.94% in the fiscal year 2018-19. In FY 2019-20 and 2020-21, the ADP implementation rates were 49.13% and 49.09% respectively.
