The Annual Development Programme (ADP) showed signs of improvement last month after a sluggish performance for most of the current fiscal year, officials said on Monday.
Government agencies and ministries had implemented 42.30 per cent of the Tk2.756 trillion ADP during the July-March period of FY2023-24, according to officials.
This is compared to 41.65 per cent achieved in the same period of FY2023. The ADP execution rate up to February (July-February) this year was the lowest in 14 years.
The month-on-month implementation rate has also been consistently lower over the past eight months compared to the corresponding period in FY2023, said the officials.
According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), public agencies had spent Tk1.16 trillion in the first three-quarters of the Tk2.756 billion outlay for the current fiscal year.
In the same period of FY2023, they spent Tk 985.21 billion of the Tk2.365 trillion ADP.
IMED Secretary Abul Kashem Md Mohiuddin said the development programme execution rate increased by 8.65 per cent in March alone, which helped lift the overall ADP execution rate to 42.30 per cent for the first three quarters.
He said the IMED, the Planning Commission and the line ministries have been working seriously to ensure the timely execution of development projects. This diligence on implementation led to an improved utilisation rate in March.
"We are confident that we can expedite the remaining work under the current ADP in the last quarter of this fiscal year," he added.
During the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and other policy body meetings, the prime minister repeatedly asked the officials to complete projects on time and within budget.
"Following the PM's directive, IMED is also seriously addressing implementation issues," Mr Mohiuddin said. "We have identified projects that are problematic or slow-moving and are discussing these with the relevant secretaries to speed up their execution."
However, another IMED official said some large ministries and budget holders, such as the health ministry, shipping ministry and Secondary and Higher Education Division, have not improved their ADP implementation rates, affecting the overall execution.
Planning Commission and IMED officials said the ministries and agencies have been struggling to improve their capacity over the months of this fiscal year, despite repeated warnings from the prime minister and the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).
"The ministries and agencies have consistently failed to improve their capacity over the years, even after repeated reminders to expedite development work," a senior IMED official said. "This is unfortunate."
In the current FY2024, the government framed a Tk2.74 trillion ADP for implementing some 1,400 development projects.
According to IMED data, ADP implementation rates during the July-March period in previous fiscal years were quite high: 45.05 per cent in FY2022, 41.92 per cent in FY2021, 45.08 per cent in FY2020 and 47.22 per cent in FY2019.
In response to the lower execution rate this year, the Planning Commission revised down the ADP to Tk2.54 trillion on March 12.
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