Bangladesh's current economic difficulties couldn't deter ministries from a race for getting unapproved projects interpolated into the new development programme as 1,225 such supernumeraries got in, officials said.
Almost all of these projects in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 have been taken in without carrying out feasibility study, they said, at a time when the government has to make do with scarce resources amid revenue shortfalls.
The number of unapproved projects without fund allocation in the newly approved ADP is 196 higher than 1,029 in the current revised ADP for the FY2024.
The government usually allocates funds against some ongoing and approved projects under ADP every year on its "white pages" and incorporates some unapproved ones without fund allocations on the "green pages".
The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday already approved Tk 2.65 trillion ADP for the next FY2025 with 1,321 ongoing and approved projects against fund allocations.
In the new ADP, the government's highest economic policy-making body has also endorsed 1,225 public-works projects of different ministries and agencies sans fund allocation for inclusion in the realm of "green page".
According to Planning Commission officials, the government has included 921 fresh, but unapproved, projects of different ministries and agencies in the "green page" of the ADP expecting funds from government's internal resources.
Another 257 unapproved projects have been incorporated into the development programme expecting project aid from the bilateral and multilateral foreign lenders.
Asked about the inserting of a glut of unapproved schemes, Planning Secretary Satyajit Karmakar said the government is "very cautious" in selecting projects amid the current economic scenarios.
However, some Planning Commission officials told the FE that they were made to take in the unapproved projects "under pressure from many ministers, Members of Parliament, secretaries and influential persons".
Development analysts and some public servants say most of the projects have been taken up "on political considerations, ignoring the development priorities".
They observe the current economic realities failed to check them from pushing projects many of which do not have any feasibility study or importance at this moment.
"The economic downturn following the Russia-Ukraine war and Middle-East tensions has forced the government to take austerity measures. It has changed even the development scenario of the country. But the ministries have ignored the austerity but taken a competition of unapproved-project inclusion," says one PC member.
"We need projects that have strong priority, not less important ones," he adds.
"The indiscriminate inclusion of the unapproved projects by different ministries and divisions affects financial discipline and budget management of the government," another top official of the commission told the FE correspondent.
Since the ministries and divisions undertake the fresh projects going beyond their Medium-Term Budgetary Framework fund ceiling, many of those go struggling for fund shortages, he added.
In the revised ADP for the current FY2024, the government also incorporated a total of 1,029 unapproved projects without fund allocation and feasibility study.
Analysing the list of such untested projects, the commission member said, it was found that the highest number came from Bangladesh Water Development Board, Roads and Highways Department, Local Government Division, the Ministry of Railways, and Rural Development and Cooperatives Division.
The Water Board, Road Transport and Highways Division, LGD have got more than 100 unapproved projects included each in the newly approved ADP.
Another senior commission official, also preferring anonymity, says most of such supernumerary projects remain unimplemented every year for a lack of adequate fund allocation, proper feasibility study and design.
"We have no option other than including hundreds of unapproved projects every year following pressure from ministers and political leaders. But most of such projects remain unimplemented in the end," he adds.
The projects are included without proper feasibility study and design, and ultimately most of these are not approved by the proper authority or are dropped from the list in the year that follows.
Former lead economist at the World Bank Dhaka office Dr Zahid Hussain says in most cases, the unapproved projects were included without feasibility studies, for which their execution in time is often affected.
"As the projects were not taken following proper rules and regulations of the government, those had not got adequate funds every year even after the approval from the government, resulting in cost and time overrun," he adds.
Dr Hussain suggests government should prioritise the list of fresh projects for the next year and then include in the ADP.
"Ensuring governance in taking up and implementing the projects is a must for quality outcome from the development works."
The Planning Commission member said: "In most cases, a few of such projects get allocation in the revised ADP or in the following year's ADP, thus raising cost from the preliminary estimation."
The inclusion of a large number of fresh projects in the ADP cannot bring good results, the official noted.
"Such a practice creates additional pressure on the execution of ongoing projects."
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