The interim government is likely to finalise a Tk 2.16 trillion Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for FY25 by trimming down current allocations by Tk 490 billion, officials said on Monday.
The Bangladesh Planning Commission is set to cut higher funds from internal resources than external resources (project aid), they said.
"The RADP will be finalised shortly. It will be placed before the National Economic Council (NEC) next month for approval," said a senior planning commission official.
He said the commission is set to cut allocations from internal resources by Tk 300 billion to Tk 1.35 trillion in the RADP.
On the other hand, it would trim down the current project aid outlay by Tk 190 billion to Tk 810 billion, he added.
In the current Tk 2.65 trillion ADP, the government allocated Tk 1.65 trillion from internal resources and Tk 1.0 trillion from external resources.
"We have already got fund requirements from all ministries. Now, we are reviewing their requirements from internal resources as well as project aid. The RADP is likely to be finalised soon," said a senior planning commission official.
This year's fund demand from ministries and divisions is comparatively lower than previous years, he said.
He also said they are going to trim down the ADP outlay since the interim government has taken a stance on reducing public spending.
Meanwhile, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) has already finalised project aid for the upcoming RADP, the official added.
When asked, an ERD official said, "We have completed consultations with all ministries and divisions for revising the foreign aid part of the ADP. We have already drafted that part and shared it with the planning commission."
In late November last year, the planning commission and ERD started revising the current ADP to streamline project executions.
The ERD official said, "We completed consultations with all ministries and divisions in December last year. Most ministries were cautious about their spending."
They wanted to slash allocations for many big projects as the government has taken a cautious stance in this regard, he further said.
In FY24, the NEC downsized the overall ADP budget to Tk 2.45 trillion, cutting Tk 180 billion (6.84 per cent) from the original Tk 2.63 trillion outlay.
Earlier in FY23, the NEC revised down ADP budget by 7.72 per cent to Tk 2.27 trillion from the original Tk 2.46 trillion outlay.
A senior finance ministry official said the government wants to make big cuts in the development budget since Bangladesh's economy is facing crises.
The ADP is part of the national budget under which the government is implementing nearly 1,300 development projects in the current financial year to facilitate economic growth.
Another planning commission official said, "Since the project execution performance of ministries and their agencies is still bleak, we are forced to cut the original ADP outlay to facilitate implementation."
According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), the ADP implementation rate during the first five months of FY25 declined to only 12.29 per cent, 4.77 percentage points lower than that in the same period of FY24.
Some key public agencies failed to finish work in time, resulting in the poor execution rate, IMED officials said.
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