Revised ADP outlay sees over 3% cut

The government has approved the revised Annual Development Programme (ADP) to the tune of Tk1,97,643 crore for the fiscal 2020-21 with a 3.66% slash in foreign aid for the development budget.

Some Tk7,502 crore has been trimmed from the original ADP of Tk2,05,145 crore, Planning Secretary Mohammad Jainul Bari briefed reporters after a meeting of the National Economic Council that approved the revised ADP on Tuesday.

NEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

The projects concerning tackling the Covid-19 situation have been given importance in the revised ADP. Besides, the projects meant for agriculture, agro-based industry, power generation, and ICT education development, poverty reduction and natural disasters have also got priority, the planning secretary said.

Ministries and divisions usually show interests in spending money from government funds for development projects. That is why, the government allocation in the revised ADP has not been reduced this time as well, he added.

Out of the total RADP outlay, the fund mobilisation from the government coffer remains unchanged at Tk1,34,643 crore while the portion of foreign sources has been trimmed to Tk63,000 crore from Tk70,501.72 crore.

The NEC also earmarked Tk11628.90 crore against the projects of autonomous bodies and corporations. Incorporating allocations for these organisations, the size of the overall RADP for the current fiscal year stands at Tk209,271.90 crore.

The total number of projects with 172 new ones in the revised ADP is 1785 – some 1,640 investment projects, 145 technical assistance projects and 101 own-funded projects.

With the 101 projects of the autonomous bodies and corporations, the total number of projects stands at 1,886.

For example, to give more pace to the rural economy and create jobs, the allocation for the Local Government Division in the revised ADP rose by Tk5,305 crore but the funding from foreign aid dropped by Tk2,266 crore.

The Roads and Highways Department's allocation from government fund in the revised ADP increased by Tk950 crore but from the foreign assistance fell by Tk14 crore.

Allocations of 32 ministries and divisions from the government fund have been slashed while 23 ministries and divisions' allocations have risen in the RADP of FY21. The allocations of the two ministries have remained unchanged.

Fahmida Khatun, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said no cut in government allocations in the revised ADB is good. We also have to enhance our skills to use foreign aid."

She said the more the government's fund will now be invested at this pandemic time the faster the economic revitalisation will be.

"But, we also have to see if the money is being spent qualitatively. Because there are only four months left in the fiscal year but the ADP implementation rate is very low," she added.

According to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, 32% of total ADB allocations have been spent as of January of the current fiscal year – the lowest in the last four years.

Sectors with maximum allocations

The transport sector has got the highest allocation of Tk49,213 crore, which is 24.90% of the total revised ADP outlay.  

The second highest allocation amounting to Tk26,492 crore has gone to the physical planning, water supply and housing sector, followed by the education and religion sector having an allocation of Tk24,572 crore.

The power sector and the rural development and rural institutions department has got Tk21,948 crore and Tk18290 crore in allocations respectively, under the revised ADP.

Ministry-wise top receivers

The Local Government Division has received the highest allocation amounting to Tk34,170.19 crore, which is 17.41% of the total revised ADP allocation.

The Roads and Highways Department is in the second place with an allocation of Tk25,761.42 crore or 13.12% of the revised ADP. The Power Division, which is in the third position, has got an allocation of Tk21,935.17 crore.

Apart from those, the Ministry of Railways, one of the top ten allocation recipients, has got Tk11,988.35 crore, the Health Service Division Tk11,979.34 crore, the Ministry of Science and Technology Tk10,903.69 crore, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Tk10,685.81 crore and the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Tk9,685.21 crore.

Allocations for fast-track projects

The four first-track projects – Padma Bridge Rail Link, Matarbari coal-fired power station and two projects involving Payra Deep Sea Port have witnessed an increase in their allocations in the revised ADP while the allocations for Padma Bridge, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail line projects have dropped.

The total allocations for the projects have been trimmed to Tk29,424 crore from Tk35,791 crore in the revised ADP.

The allocation for MRT-6, another fast-track project, will remain unchanged.

The allocation for the Padma Bridge project has been reduced to Tk2,100 crore from Tk5,000 crore in the revised ADP.

But the allocation for the Padma rail link project has increased by Tk1,801 crore and stood at Tk5,455 crore, which was Tk3,685 crore in the original ADP.

The allocation for the Rooppur nuclear power plant project has fallen by Tk5,824 crore to Tk1,0167 crore. The project had been allocated Tk15,991 crore in the original ADP.

Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail line project's allocation has reduced by Tk510 crore and stood at Tk990 crore.

The allocation for the Matarbari coal power plant project has risen to Tk4200 crore, with a 528 crore increase from the original ADP.

Allocation for the Payra port infrastructure development has slashed to Tk652 crore from the original allocation of Tk350 crore.  

Additionally, the port's first terminal construction project's allocation increased from Tk350 crore to Tk500 crore.

Projects picked for completion

There are 442 projects scheduled for completion in the current revised ADP. The prime minister has directed implementing these projects on time by any means.

The planning secretary said, "There will not be any more time extension of the projects finally selected for completion for the sake of planning and financial discipline. The prime minister has given instructions in this regard. The PM also directed project directors to stay in project areas for speedy implementation of the projects."