Projects squeeze features Tk 2.46t new ADP

Bangladesh highlights depth in next annual development programme as the government Tuesday approved a higher outlay of Tk 2.46 trillion for the new ADP with fewer projects than current ones.
The number of development projects has been cut down to 1,441 in the newly approved ADP for the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 compared to 1,771 in the current FY2022 revised development recipe, with government high-ups now opting for quality spending for better returns by discarding less-priority projects.
The government's highest economic-policy body also cleared another Tk 91.30- billion outlay for the projects of autonomous and semi-autonomous government bodies.
With Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, the National Economic Council (NEC) in its executive-body meeting at the Planning Commission (PC) endorsed the ADP outlay, some 9.21-percent higher than the original Tk 2.25 trillion worth ADP of the current FY2022 and 18.56-percent up from the recently revised RADP size.
After the ECNEC meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan told the press that the government adopted the ADP with the highest allocation to transport and communications that needs lot much to do to pull up the yet-problematic sector.
The sector grabbed the highest amount of Tk 706.95 billion from the development budget, accounting for 28.73 per cent of the Tk 2.46-trillion ADP.
The power and energy sector receives the second-highest allocation of Tk 394.12 billion, 16.02 per cent of the total outlay, followed by Tk 290.81 billion or 11.82 per cent earmarked for education.
State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said the government decided to reduce the number of projects discarding less-priority ones amid the global financial crisis and the Ukraine-Russia war.
"Over the last few years, we used to take up 1650-1750 projects under ADPs. But this year, the number in the next ADP has been reduced to 1,441," he added.
He, however, made it clear that the government would not reduce its allocation in the ADP for the priority projects and their implementation.
Mr Mannan said out of the Tk 2.46-trillion ADP outlay, they allocated Tk 1.53 trillion from government's internal resources while the rest Tk 930 billion from external resources to come as project assistance (PA).
When asked, Planning Secretary Pradip Ranjan Chakrobarty said the government had not taken any measures to reduce the projects in the ADP bypassing priority works.
"We would allocate adequate funds to the priority and important projects for their implementation in the coming years. But we will be more selective and cautious in endorsement of the new projects in the days to come," says the secretary.
Meanwhile, the government cut the current FY2022 original Tk 2.25 trillion worth of ADP by 7.89 per cent to Tk 2.07 trillion in March as the ministries and divisions performed bleak in project implementation.
An Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) report shows that the government agencies had implemented 45.56 per cent of the RADP during the first nine months from July to March of this FY2022.
The NEC Tuesday also revised the current 'Method of project formation, processing, approval and revision' bringing some changes and updating some provisions.
Among the changes, the PC proposed taking approval for the technical projects (TA) costing Tk500 million or more from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council from now on, mandatory feasibility study before taking up project and limiting the power of the ministry in the extension of the project tenure to only one occasion, the planning secretary said.

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