FE Report
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Saturday stated that decentralisation of administration and development devolution were one of the critical constraints to accelerating the pace of implementation of the annual development programme (ADP).
"This problem does not lie simply with spending budgetary development fund; it also involves the mind-set of the bureaucracy," he added.
He said it is not that easy to resolve this problem as it is related to local government structure and all other relevant government entities.
Mr Muhith was speaking at a pre-budget discussion with the editors of national dailies and electronic media in the secretariat.
Besides the finance minister, the Governor of the Bangladesh Bank, Dr Atiur Rahman, Finance Secretary Dr Muhammad Tareq, Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Dr Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Secretary, Economic Relations Division Mr Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and the Secretary, Implementation, Monitoring
& Evaluation Division (IMED), along with other senior officials, were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the finance minister said execution of ADP has always been a problem and a much-talked-about issue.
"We have also faults and weaknesses for implementing the ADP," he said, while adding that lack of coordination and procurement-related problems were, among other factors, impeding the process of execution of development projects under the ADP.
"We are trying to resolve the problems and in some cases we've become successful, too," he noted while pointing out that the size of the ADP, in financial terms, has also witnessed a marked increased over the last two to three years.
He said project implementation took much time before but now it involves less time.
The lengthy process in public procurement has also been a problem, said the minister.
A central procurement plan will be drawn up at the beginning of the next fiscal, he added.
"We have asked the ministries and agencies concerned to chalk out a purchase plan in the first month of every fiscal year," Muhith said.
It will help quicken the pace of tendering and other relevant procedures for project execution, he said.
The finance minister also identified lack of commitment, especially the attitude of bureaucrats, as a problem in matters of execution of the projects under the ADP.
"We have started working on it and set some deadlines before them to accomplish their tasks. Now we are observing some changes," said the finance minister.
Mr Muhith was, however, upbeat about executing the ADP of Tk 350 billion this year.
Pointing to public-private partnership (PPP) projects, the finance minister said some PPP projects are already in existence.
Some independent power producer (IPP) plants and healthcare institutes including BIRDEM are the examples of successful PPPs, he added.
He expressed hope that the government would spend more in PPP projects from the next fiscal year.
Finding the right man for heading the PPP unit is also not an easy job in the context of the situation in Bangladesh, he added.
The minister expressed his concern over unused foreign aid, which he said would soar to around US$ 11 billion by the end of the current fiscal.
In the past years, it was hovering around $ 6.0 billion to $ 7.0 billion, he said.
Responding to a query about the government move to restructure the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in line with the recommendations of the probe committee report on the recent share scam, Mr Muhith said: "Restructuring the SEC is extremely difficult and I have been working on it for the past one month."
The commission requires highly skilled qualified professionals for manning it as the market has now reached such a level that any person without adequate knowledge will not be able to discharge the duties properly, said the minister.
He also pointed that the existing accounting norms and standards as well as the regulations particularly, as far as their practice is concerned, are not up to the mark.
In most cases, the annual reports prepared by the accountants do not reflect the actual scenario of the companies, he alleged.
Pointing to the overall economy of the country, the finance minister said the poverty rate is declining but disparity between the rich and the poor is growing.
"This is an intricate issue. We are thinking of ways to address the issue but no revolutionary steps at this stage can be considered for tackling it," he said.
The minister also considered that a substantial flow of foreign direct investment (FDI), besides that of foreign assistance, would be needed to move the economy forward.
"The current foreign assistance is now only between 1.4 per cent and 1.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This is very low," he said.
The minister did not consider the existing power supply situation as any major deterrent to attracting investors.
"The investors have taken a positive note about our commitment to augmenting power supply and also about the steps that we have taken to improve the situation", he added.
Besides the supply of power, the development of the overall energy sector has drawn the priority attention of the government, he noted.
The minister agreed on the need for improvement of public transport facilities.
The government will also allocate necessary funds for digitisation of land, Mr Muhith said.
Pointing to power and energy supply situation, the finance minister said around 2,000 megawatts (mw) of additional electricity will be added to the national grid by the end of this year.
Of that 1,200mw to 1,400mw will come from short-term rental power plants having the life-span of three to five years, he said.
The country requires larger power plants, he added.
"We must get natural gas and import liquefied natural gas (LNG)," he said.
Building an LNG import terminal and extraction of coal are also necessary to meet future demands, the minister said.
But such efforts will require a reasonable period of time to reap dividends, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman highlighted the positive aspects of the Bangladesh economy in the light of the updated country rating by the Moody's.
The Standard of Poor's is also doing its work for updating its rating about the Bangladesh economy, he added while stating that his discussion with Standard & Poor's suggested that its rating will be similar to that of Moody's for reasons of the fundamental strengths of the Bangladesh economy.
The BB governor observed that the country's balance of payment is under some pressure. But this can not termed as any crisis, he added.
He said the country's overall inflation has increased but it is still lower than that of other neighbouring countries in South Asia.
The poverty rate is now 32 per cent, which was 40 per cent in 2005, said Atiur Rahman.
The BB governor termed the country's overall macro-economic situation as stable on a sustained basis.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith stated at the meeting reforming the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a tough task mainly because of shortage of skills.
"Finding qualified persons for the extremely tough job of the commission is not an easy task," he added. He pointed out that a legal expert for the SEC could be found after making 'a hectic effort', but later it was known that the person also lacked in proper knowledge about the capital market.
"In this situation it is very difficult to carry out necessary reform in the SEC," he said.
The minister's comments came as some of the journalists at the meeting proposed fiscal measures to revitalize the country's capital market and restore investors' confidence.
He said there would be more room in the next fiscal policy for projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives.
The Independent Editor Mahbubul Alam, Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar, The Financial Express Editor Moazzam Hossain, The News Today Editor Reazuddin Ahmed, Prothom Alo Joint Editor Abdul Qayum, Daily Sun Editor Syed Anower Hussain, Acting Editor of Daily Sangbad Khandaker Moniruzzaman, Channel i Head of News Shaikh Siraj and ATN Bangla Advisory Editor Saiful Bari were among those who took part in the discussion.
ADP execution has always been a problem: Muhith
FE Team | Published: April 24, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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