BR's revenue earning declines sharply
Thursday, 12 July 2007
FE Report
The ongoing reforms programme to make the state-run Bangladesh Railway (BR) a financially viable entity has failed to yield any tangible progress as its revenue income marked a sharp decline by over 63 per cent in the just-concluded fiscal year 2006-07 over that of the previous fiscal.
Provisional official figures showed that the BR had earned revenue worth of only Tk 1.63 billion in the last fiscal compared to nearly Tk 4.45 billion in the fiscal year (FY) 2005-06.
On the other hand, a significant reduction of manpower under a donor-funded 'Organisational Reforms' project also helped the BR reduce its overall revenue expenditures considerably in the last fiscal.
According to the figures, the Railway's total revenue expenses came down to about Tk 5.26 billion in the FY 2006-07 from Tk 9.60 billion in the FY 2005-06.
As a result, the BR's operating losses loss also declined by Tk 1.52 to Tk 3.62 in the 2006-07 financial year over the previous fiscal.
Under the Asian Development Bank (ADB)- funded 'Organisational Reforms project', the BR's manpower has already been downsized to 35,172 from 58,000 previously, official sources said.
Other important components of the RB reforms program include introduction of 'Public Service Obligation (PSO)', fixation of tariff on a commercial basis and integration of various activities with the private sector.
According to sources, the main purpose of the reforms was to reduce the BR's huge deficit through making it operationally sound and commercially viable.
Besides, the government allocated over Tk 6.53 billion to the BR in the FY 2006-07 for a total of 29 projects under its annual development project (ADP).
According to official statistics, the BR carried some 4.29 billion of passengers/per km and 761.47 million of goods in the last fiscal while the figures were 4.38 billion and 420.48 million respectively in the FY 2005-06.
Currently, the BR has a total 2854.96 kilometre of tracks- 660 km as broad gauge, 365 km dual gauge and 1829 million as metre gauge.
The ongoing reforms programme to make the state-run Bangladesh Railway (BR) a financially viable entity has failed to yield any tangible progress as its revenue income marked a sharp decline by over 63 per cent in the just-concluded fiscal year 2006-07 over that of the previous fiscal.
Provisional official figures showed that the BR had earned revenue worth of only Tk 1.63 billion in the last fiscal compared to nearly Tk 4.45 billion in the fiscal year (FY) 2005-06.
On the other hand, a significant reduction of manpower under a donor-funded 'Organisational Reforms' project also helped the BR reduce its overall revenue expenditures considerably in the last fiscal.
According to the figures, the Railway's total revenue expenses came down to about Tk 5.26 billion in the FY 2006-07 from Tk 9.60 billion in the FY 2005-06.
As a result, the BR's operating losses loss also declined by Tk 1.52 to Tk 3.62 in the 2006-07 financial year over the previous fiscal.
Under the Asian Development Bank (ADB)- funded 'Organisational Reforms project', the BR's manpower has already been downsized to 35,172 from 58,000 previously, official sources said.
Other important components of the RB reforms program include introduction of 'Public Service Obligation (PSO)', fixation of tariff on a commercial basis and integration of various activities with the private sector.
According to sources, the main purpose of the reforms was to reduce the BR's huge deficit through making it operationally sound and commercially viable.
Besides, the government allocated over Tk 6.53 billion to the BR in the FY 2006-07 for a total of 29 projects under its annual development project (ADP).
According to official statistics, the BR carried some 4.29 billion of passengers/per km and 761.47 million of goods in the last fiscal while the figures were 4.38 billion and 420.48 million respectively in the FY 2005-06.
Currently, the BR has a total 2854.96 kilometre of tracks- 660 km as broad gauge, 365 km dual gauge and 1829 million as metre gauge.