New guidelines in the offing to speed up ADP spending

FE Team | Published: February 18, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
The government is set to adopt a new guideline to speed up implementation and bring qualitative changes in the annual development programme (ADP) worth more than US$ 3.5 billion.
A meeting Sunday led by finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam reviewed the draft guideline on the ADP and asked the ministries and divisions to send opinions within a week.
"We will approve the new guideline within the next seven days," said the finance and planning adviser after the meeting at planning ministry.
The new guideline, Aziz said, will able to bring qualitative change in selection of projects and their implementation as the planning ministry has started formulation of the next fiscal ADP.
It comes after the finance ministry revealed early last month that only one fifth of the development budget was spent in the first six months of the fiscal.
The poor implementation of the development budget was widely criticised by economists, experts and multilateral lending agencies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The present caretaker government replaced the age old guideline on the spending of the development budget, after experts raised questions on the quality the previous ADPs.
Aziz said the new guideline will give top priority to projects linked to poverty reduction and improvement of the country's ailing infrastructure.
"Importance will also be given to the projects that serve the national interest most and ensure proper utilisation of foreign aids," he said.
The ADP implementing agencies will be benefitted from the new guidelines as it seeks to empower the key government ministries and divisions, he added.
Officials said the new guidelines will strictly prohibit the tendency of selecting a development project in a hasty manner and without proper scrutiny
It will also make the procurement for any project mandatory within three months of its approval to curb the practice of excessive spending during the last quarter of the fiscal year.
The new guideline will also make it mandatory to follow a database prepared by the government on regional investment, according to a draft copy of the guidelines.
Following such database will help remove regional disparity and ensure balance development.
Sources said the new guideline has 13 instructions for the ministries and divisions which are responsible for selection of annual development projects and their execution each year.