Thursday, April 25, 2024
The National Economic Council (NEC) on Wednesday approved Tk 2,27,566.09 crore Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current fiscal year (FY23) making a Tk 18,500 crore cut from the allocation of foreign sources portion of the original ADP outlay.
Out of the total RADP allocation, Tk 1,53,066.09 crore will come from local sources while the rest of Tk 74,500 crore will come from foreign sources. The funding from the local sources in the RADP remained intact.
The approval came from the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) held on Wednesday with its Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the NEC Conference Room in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam said the overall allocation of the concerned autonomous bodies and corporations in the revised ADP remained intact at Taka 8,994.58 crore.
Considering the allocation of the autonomous bodies and corporations, the overall size of the RADP in the current fiscal year reached Taka 2,36,560.67 crore.
Dr Alam informed that the number of projects in the RADP reached 1,525 of which 1,410 are investment projects while the rest of 115 are technical assistance projects.
However, if some 102 projects from autonomous bodies and corporations are added, then the total number of projects in the RADP reached 1,627.
Touching upon the performances of the major macroeconomic indicators, the State Minister said that inward remittance has been witnessing uptrend since October last while the export earnings have also been witnessing buoyant performances since September last year.
Besides, he said that the general point-to-point inflation has been witnessing downtrend since August last year while the foreign currency reserve on February 22 this year was more than US$32 billion.
"In totality, we can say that the economy of Bangladesh has made a turnaround under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he added.
Answering a question, Alam said that the government has been putting emphasis continuously more than ever on increasing the quality and standards of project works.
"The implementation of mega projects indicates that there has been a quantum jump in our efforts," he said, adding that there have also been qualitative changes in implementation.
In replying to another question, the State Minister for Planning said that the government had to go for price adjustments in power tariffs since it has to keep the budget deficit in a certain limit.
Planning Division Secretary Satyajit Karmakar said they prioritized food security, agriculture and agro-based industries, poverty alleviation, employment generation, human resource development and ensuring balanced development while framing the revised ADP for the current fiscal year.
Answering to a question on the reduction of Taka 18,500 crore allocation from foreign sources in the RADP, he said that the government is very much aware in this regard while the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister would sit soon with the concerned ministries and divisions in this regard.
He told another questioner that although the government has much capacity in utilization of local resources, still it lacks the capacity to some extent in utilization of funds from foreign sources.
"The compliance factor of the development partners is a bit complex and their bureaucracy is very strong. There are many barriers from their side also. For that, we often lag behind in implementing allocation of fund from foreign sources. Furthermore, the foreign aid in the pipeline is now nearly US$52 billion," he added.
The Planning Secretary informed that some 21 ministries and divisions have witnessed increased allocation in the RADP while some 37 ministries and divisions have witnessed cut in allocation in the RADP. Besides, some 343 projects are scheduled for completion in the current fiscal year.
In the revised ADP, the transport and communication sector witnessed the highest allocation with Taka 61,810 crore (27.16 per cent) followed by power and energy with Taka 38,317 crore (16.84pc), Housing and community facilities with Taka 25,939 crore (11.40pc), local government and rural development with Taka 20,231 crore (8.89pc), education with Taka 18,431 crore (8.10pc), health with Taka 12,745 crore (5.60pc), environment, climate change and water resources with Taka 12,600 crore (5.54pc), agriculture with Taka 9,394 crore (4.13pc), industry and Economic services with Taka 4,689 crore (2.06pc) and religion, culture and entertainment sector with Taka 4,271 crore (1.18pc).
However, in Ministry and Division-wise allocation, the Local Government Division received the highest RADP allocation of Taka 39,563 crore (17.68pc) followed by Road Transport and Highways Division with Taka 29,897 crore (13.36pc) and Power Division with Taka 25,247 crore (11.28pc).
