The Planning Commission (PC) has finalised a Tk 720 billion Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) cutting funds by 10 per cent from Tk 803.15 billion original allocation in the current fiscal 2014-15, officials said Tuesday.
The Commission will place the revised development budget before the National Economic Council (NEC), expected to be held on March 10, Commission officials said.
PC officials said they were offering higher allocations to transport sector. Then education, power and local government sectors have got higher allocations respectively for developing Bangladesh's rickety infrastructure.
"The extended meeting of the Planning Commission finalised the outlay of the RADP at its meeting today (Tuesday). It will be placed before the NEC next week in a bid to get approval," a senior PC official told the FE.
According to the PC, it has cut the fund allocations from the government's own exchequer by Tk 55.15 billion to Tk 471 billion in the proposed RADP. The outlay in the original ADP was Tk 526.15 billion.
Besides, the Commission has slashed the fund allocations by Tk 28 billion to Tk 249 billion from external resources (project aid) in the proposed RADP. The allocation in the original ADP was Tk 277 billion.
The proposed Tk 720 billion outlay for the revised ADP has been provided for 1,197 projects. The number of projects at the RADP has been reduced as some of those in the original ADP have been completed during the current FY2015.
The transport sector has grabbed the highest allocation of Tk 170.32 billion in the RADP of the current FY2015, the PC official said.
Education and religious sector are set to get Tk 86.63 billion outlay, then the power sector Tk 83.18 billion and the rural development and rural institutions Tk 70.05 billion at the proposed RADP, he added.
In July-January period of the current FY2015, the government ministries and agencies spent only 32 per cent of the Tk 803.15 billion ADP.
"We have completed revision of the ADP at our side, restructuring allocations of ministries and divisions under different sectors. Now we will place it before the NEC," another PC official said.
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