Govt, donors to review aided projects tomorrow

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Syful Islam The government will review the foreign-aided projects that are included in the annual development programme (ADP) for implementation in fiscal year (FY) 2011-12, officials said Monday. Representatives from the 29 donor organisations and 48 secretaries of the government have been invited to attend a meeting on Wednesday, to be presided over by planning minister AK Khondkar. The prevailing pressure on the country's foreign exchange (forex) reserve has lent an urgency for reviewing the situation about the foreign aided-projects. Planning Commission sources said the government holds such meeting occasionally when needed. The planning minister sat with the ministries concerned late last month to discuss the progress of the projects where donor representatives were not invited. "We want cent per cent implementation of the ADP. This year's allocation of Tk 460 billion for ADP is the highest ever. For their smooth implementation, the minister will give guidelines to the ministries concerned," Joint Chief of the Planning Commission (PC) Prashanta Kumar Chakraborty told the FE. "Since we want cent per cent implementation of the ADP this year, cooperation of the donor community is also needed. The minister will also seek their support and want to know if there is any complication and lacking from the government's part." Mr Chakraborty said guidelines will be provided to the ministries so that top officials frequently visit the project area and the project directors themselves stay at the sites to ensure quality of the works. "We will ask the ministries concerned to float tenders for the projects and make payments in time and ensure implementation within the timeframe of the project," he said. Mr Chakraborty said: "We will also review if revision of any agreement or extension of any project is needed so that donors can release fund quickly." Some 92 per cent of the last fiscal year's revised ADP allocation totalling Tk 328.30 billion could be spent by the end of the fiscal. Some 1,191 projects were in the last fiscal year's ADP of which 1,116 were foreign-aided ones. In the current fiscal, there are some 1,039 projects included in the ADP. Out of them, 977 are to be implemented with the support of external aid. So far, some Tk 68.66 billion has been released for the ADP projects of which only Tk 26.22 billion could be spent so far. A planning commission official said the government is trying to ensure immediate release of foreign funds through expediting the implementation of the projects taken under the ADP so that it can cope with the pressure on the country's forex reserve. He said the government is meeting the donor representatives so that they release fund at a quicker pace and it can get ease the pressure somewhat on the forex reserve and help address the balance of payments problems, caused mainly by increased payments of import bills. Talking to the FE, AK Khondkar said: "We do meet with the donors once or twice a year to see if there is any complication over the ongoing and new projects implemented with their funds." "This meeting also aims to remove the problems, if any, centring on the implementation of aided projects and the release of fund," he added.