Health-service improvement is seen imperative to lessen costly foreign treatments by many but the sector again stands lowest in development performance with only 43.06 per cent of its ADP allocation spent in last 11 months.
For over a decade now, the Health Services Division (HSD) remained all the same in laggard performance in development-budget implementation since entire Bangladesh got in health-service emergency during and post-pandemic period, officials said Wednesday.
It is one 14 larger development budget-recipient ministries and divisions which spent 62.06 per cent, on average, of their respective allocations, an FE analysis has found at a time when the fiscal year is about to pass by.
A new budget takes effect in four days now with the outgoing one's development programme largely left unfinished as of the last month of the fiscal year following sluggish performance in 11 months.
Officials said Wednesday the government agencies were left with 43 per cent of their development works to be done in one month, June.
Even after downward revision of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in March, the project-execution rate during July 2023-May 2024 period was lowest in four years, they added.
Government ministries and agencies executed only 57.54 per cent of the Tk 2.54-trillion revised ADP in July-May period the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) data showed.
The implementation rate this year was nearly 5.0-percentage-point lower than that in the same period last FY2023, as per official count. During the same period last year, 61.73 per cent of the ADP was executed.
Officials at the IMED say a massive drawback in project execution by shipping and heath ministries dragged down government's development-work performance as both ministries' laggard going was far below the average rate.
During the past July-May time, the ADP implementation in terms of the money spent was worth Tk 1.46 trillion that accounts for 57.54 per cent of the Tk 2.54-trillion RADP outlay, the IMED data showed.
In the last two fiscal years, the ADP performance had been much better but lost gear in the current fiscal, says a senior IMED official.
According to the monitoring department, the public agencies had implemented 61.73 per cent in 11 months of the last FY and 64.84 per cent in the previous FY2022.
Even during the all-shattering Covid-19 period in FY2021, the performance in development works was better as the ministries and agencies executed 58.36 per cent of the development budget in the first 11 months.
An FE analysis has found some big ministries and agencies, including the shipping ministry, health division, bridges division, and Housing and Public Works ministry, having done worst in RADP execution during this past July-May period.
Among the big budget-holders, the shipping ministry, the 10th-largest, executed only 42.43 per cent of its Tk 68.37-billion outlay in the current RADP and the Health Services Division, the 7th- largest sharer of the funds, spent only 43.06 per cent of its Tk 93.61-billion allocation.
The Bridges Division has spent 49.42 per cent of its Tk 76.70 billion, the
PMO 52.87 per cent of its Tk 38.82 billion and the housing and public works ministry spent 54.07 per cent of its Tk 60.82-billion outlay in the current RADP.
Health-expert Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub says it is unfortunate that the government never has found out the reasons behind the lower expenditure capacity of the Health Ministry as well as "did not punish the culprits".
"I think there is a lack of expertise in project management among the Project Directors of the Health Ministry, which is one of the reasons for the failure in development-budget expenditure," he told the FE.
"Besides, red-tapism in the administration is another reason behind the poor performance of the project-implementing authorities under the ministry," Dr Rashid said.
A senior IMED official also deplores that some big ministries and agencies like the health, shipping, bridges division, PMO, Housing and Public Works ministry have been failing to execute their projects against the annual target that results in lower ADP implementation over the years.
Planning Commission and IMED officials are unhappy with the ministries and agencies' "failing in improving their capacity over the months, even after repeated warning by the PM and the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)".
"The public ministries and agencies have been failing to improve their capacity over the years even after repeated reminders to them for expediting the development works. It is unfortunate," says the official.
Following slow execution progress the PC in March revised the current FY2024 ADP down to Tk 2.54 trillion from the original Tk 2.74 trillion meant for implementing 1,400 development projects-fresh and carried over from past years.
The new budget for FY2024-25 takes effect on July 1st after passage by parliament, and much of the remaining finance and projects will be carried over.
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