According to a FE news story, ADP implementation was slower as some big ministries including Health Ministry, Shipping Ministry, Bridges Division, and Prime Minister's Office performed poorly during the period, a FE analysis found. In the July-January period of the current fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, the government agencies spent Tk 744.64 billion or 27.11 per cent of the total Tk 2.74 trillion ADP outlay, according to data of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED). The ADP execution rate in the same period of the last fiscal was 1.05 percentage point higher at 28.11 per cent. According to IMED, the government agencies during the corresponding period of FY2023 had spent Tk 720.90 billion, 28.11 per cent of the Tk 2.56-trillion ADP. Planning Commission and IMED officials say the government ministries and agencies failed to improve upon their capacity even after recovery from Covid-19 impact when project works were affected severely. "This happens to be the worst performance in the recent past as the government agencies even failed to cross the performance rate of the Covid period," said one official concerned.
For the current FY2024, the government has framed a Tk 2.74 trillion worth of ADP for implementing some 1,400 development projects. The aforementioned FE analysis found that the implementation rate during the July-January period of FY 2022 was 30.21 per cent, 28.45 per cent in FY2021, 32.07 per cent in FY2020, and 34.43 per cent in FY2019.
Basking in the glory of a fat ADP appears to be self-deceiving for the planners. One tends to view it this way because implementing the development programmes under the ADP reasonably efficiently within the timeframe is utterly missing. The result is often a botched up implementation affair reflecting poorly the overall execution of numerous projects.
That the matter is fast gaining ground in the country's public spending culture has been flagged time and again. The government, now, is not in a denial mood regarding the major loopholes and hindrances, and so it is crucial that efforts are there to take necessary measures well in time.
Poor and inefficient implementation of the ADP has ever remained a problem the country has been struggling with on a regular basis. Blaming those in charge of execution does not serve any purpose. In fact, it is the very selection of projects and methodology adopted that are often questioned. Experts have pointed out the need for a sound mechanism to be worked out by a set of knowledgeable professionals in order to identify projects consistent with national priorities. Lack of adequate economic analysis, funding strategies, abundance of unapproved projects, absence of sufficient coordination between development and non-development budgets, shortage of expert manpower and weak capacity of the Planning Commission and Planning Cells in the ministries are often regarded as some of the major obstacles to establish an efficient public spending management system in the country. Lack of capacity to handle projects efficiently can result in white elephants that produce negative returns. Slow and back-loaded disbursements and poor quality of expenditures reflect a far from adequate management system for public spending under the ADP. Undesirable costs on account of delays due to underutilisation of development projects translate into massive cost and time over-run.
It is well known that a good number of projects listed with the ADP, not formally approved, add to the pressure of inclusion at the terminal stage of each financial year. This indeed reflects the absence of a proper mechanism to do the necessary homework before finalising the selection process. While it is desirable to keep an inventory of projects ready for inclusion into the budget process, these should be properly appraised beforehand and should be planned and brought forward through a medium-term planning tool rather than through the budget document.
Another issue, donor requirement is also found a critical factor in the identification and implementation of projects. Donors not only put pressure in support of projects they want to fund, but their focus on procedural requirements rather than substantive quality of projects, procurement and logistics-related issues are problem areas that the relevant government agencies are not adequately equipped to handle.
Although it is more or less the same frustrating picture of ADP execution every year, measures to change the implementation culture are not at all in sight. The government should devise a transparent and efficient mechanism including effective monitoring before placing the burden on the executing agencies, not all of which are fully aware of how to go about the task.
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