Projects and costs both see deep cuts as the interim government downsizes the ongoing annual development programme (ADP) to Tk2.16 trillion under its policy to economize spending in crunch time.
The revised annual development programme or RADP for the current fiscal year sheds Tk 490 billion from the original ADP outlay, while maintaining priority on transport and communications, power and energy, and education, mirroring the original plan left over by the ousted Sheikh Hasina government.
The approval for the revised development budget came Monday from the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) held at the NEC auditorium in Dhaka with Chief Adviser of the interim government Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
Briefing the press following the meeting, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said Tk 598.77 billion, only 21.52 per cent of the original ADP, had been spent in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2024-25.
Around 18.49 per cent of the original ADP was deducted in response to "lower implementation rate, resource constraints and reprioritization of development activities," he added.
At the beginning of the current fiscal year, the government of the time approved ADP worth Tk 2.65 trillion with a breakdown of Tk 1.65 trillion from government's own funds and Tk 1.0 trillion from foreign sources.
The RADP is to be financed with Tk 1.35 trillion from the domestic sources and another Tk 810 billion to be managed from foreign resources as loans and grants.
The domestic resources in the RADP have been scaled down by 18.49 per cent and foreign funding by 19 per cent.
Analysing the RADP it is found that the allocation for human-resource development has been reduced drastically.
Health-sector allocation dropped by about 50 per cent and it dropped by over 35 per cent for education.
Transport and communications sector received the highest dollop of Tk482.53 billion or 22.34 per cent of the revised ADP.
Power and energy sector received the second-highest Tk 318.98 billion, while education sector scored third with an allocation worth Tk 203.50 billion.
The sector received allocation worth Tk 315.29 billion in the original ADP and it lost Tk 111.79 billion.
Housing and community facilities ranked fourth and local government and rural development stands in the fifth position.
The RADP will carry some 1,437 projects, while 1212 are investment projects. Some 71 projects that got approval in the current fiscal year after formulation of the ADP got added with the RADP.
The local government division is proposed to be allocated the highest Tk 361.59 billion, 16.74 per cent of the total RADP.
Power division, Road transport and highways division, primary and mass education division, science and technology ministry, railways division are among top recipients.
However, the allocation for the health services division shrank by 58.75 per cent from Tk 137.41 billion of the original ADP to Tk 56.69 billion in the RADP. The division lost Tk 80.73 billion.
The allocation for the primary and mass education ministry is trimmed down to Tk 127.64 billion, 20.89-percent lower than the original allocation Tk161.36 billion. The ministry also lost Tk 33.72 billion.
The secondary and higher secondary education division received allocation worth Tk 54.14 billion, less than half the original ADP allocation worth Tk 108.88 billion.
Wahiduddin Mahmud stated that while allocations for human-resource sectors such as health, education, and social-safety nets were set to increase, the government was compelled to reduce funding for these sectors due to previously conceived "faulty projects".
Explaining the reduction in the Ministry of Education's allocation under his purview, Prof Mahmud said, "A massive project was undertaken to establish universities in every district. However, despite the absence of students and teachers in these institutions, a large number of employees were recruited for political reasons."
He also said infrastructure development for some of the primary schools is so far needed. Academic and residential buildings for some of the important universities also are important.
"No more infrastructure, such as hospital buildings, is needed in the health sector," he said, explaining that many facilities remained underutilized due to a shortage of doctors.
He added that expensive medical equipment remained unused for a lack of skilled technicians.
"A large number of doctors and technicians need to be recruited, and their salaries should be covered by the revenue budget, not the development budget," he told reporters to justify the downward revision of allocation.
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