Only 30 pc ADP fund utilised in first half of current fiscal

Different ministries and divisions spent only 27 per cent of the development budget in the first half of the current fiscal. This was 3.0 percentage points down from what it was in the last fiscal, officials said Thursday.
The ministries and agencies spent nearly Tk 180 billion, which is 27 per cent of total Tk 658.72 billion outlay in the first half (July-December period) of the current financial year (FY) 2013-14, Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) officials said.
In the first half of the same period, the government's project execution agencies utilised 30 per cent of Tk550 billion outlay of the original Annual Development Programme (ADP) in the last FY2012-13.
"The political turmoil in last two months hit the development works of the government badly. It  affected overall project implementation by the government ministries and divisions," a senior IMED official told the FE Thursday.
He said they are hopeful of getting a big boost in development project implementation in the last half (January-June period) of the current financial year. The ministries have demanded higher funds in the revised ADP, which is now under preparation.
The government ministries and divisions have shown their highest capability in spending funds allocated from its internal resources rather than  from the external sources.
According to the IMED data, the implementing agencies spent 30 per cent of Tk 413.09 billion allocations from the internal resources. Only 24 per cent of Tk 245.63 billion allocations could be spent from the external resources in July-December period this fiscal.
The poor spending rate from the external resources (project aid) has affected overall foreign aid inflow to the country.
Bangladesh received US$969.26 million assistance in the July-November period of the current FY2013-14, which is almost the same amount in the corresponding period last fiscal.
IMED officials said the Bridge Division is the worst performer in executing projects under the development budget. It spent only five per cent of its outlay, 22 percentage points lower than the overall implementation rate during the July-December period this fiscal.
Failure in implementing the US$2.9 billion Padma Bridge project is the key reason behind the poor performance of the Bridge Division, a top Planning Commission official said.
The government has allocated total Tk 68.88 billion for the Bridge Division, where the major portion of Tk 68.52 billion is meant for the Padma Bridge project.
He said the government allocated Tk 16 billion from the external resources as project aid while the rest amount out of Tk 68.52 billion outlay for the Padma Bridge project in the current fiscal.
The top IMED official said the Power Division, the Housing and Public Works Ministry, and the Energy and Mineral Resources Division have also been placed in the list of the poor performers in terms of for their fund utilisation rate.
The Local Government Division (LGD), the highest development fund holder, however, performed better during the first half of the current FY2013-14, IMED officials said.