Home ›› 12 May 2023 ›› Front
The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved an Annual Development Programme (ADP) of Tk 2,63,000 crore for FY2023-24, prioritising transport and power sectors, which is 6.8 per cent higher than the current fiscal year’s original ADP of Tk 2,46,066 crore.
If the funds to be set aside for the state-owned enterprises are included, the size of the development budget will be Tk 2,74,674 crore, which is 7 per cent higher than the current ADP.
The approval came on Thursday from the NEC meeting held at its Sher-e Bangla Nagar office in Dhaka, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
After the meeting, Planning Division secretary Satyajit Karmakar at a press conference said that the government will fund Tk 1,69,000 crore and Tk 94,000 crore will be covered by foreign funds for ADP FY24.
“Transportation and power sectors received the highest allocation in the next ADP. Transport sector got the highest Tk 75,945 crore or 28.88 per cent and power sector Tk 44,393 crore or 16.88 per cent,” he said.
In ADP FY24, the education sector got Tk 29,889 crore or 11.36 per cent; housing and community facilities Tk 27,046 crore or 10.28 per cent; health Tk 18,880 crore or 7.18 per cent; and local government and rural development got Tk 16,204 crore or 6.16 per cent.
Besides, agriculture got Tk 10,707 crore or 4.07 per cent; environment, climate change and water resources Tk 8,995 crore or 3.42 per cent; industries and financial service Tk 5,362 crore or 2.04 per cent; and science and information technology got Tk 5,321 crore or 2.02 per cent.
A total of 1,309 projects have received allocations in the ADP, and 1,118 of them are investment projects, 22 feasibility projects and 80 are technical projects, the secretary said, adding that 89 projects will be implemented under the autonomous body’s organisations.
The NEC on Thursday also approved the Revised ADP of Tk 2,27,566 crore for FY2022-23 from the original Tk 2,46,066 crore. The government will fund Tk 1,53,066 crore and Tk 74,500 crore will come from foreign funds.
GDP to grow by 6.03%
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s economy is expected to grow by 6.03 per cent in the current fiscal year, while the per capita income will remain below $2,800, as per the provisional estimation of the government.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) projection is based on the performance of various economic indicators recorded in the first half of FY23, State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam told reporters after the NEC meeting.
He said the per capita income has fallen due to an increase in USD price. Ministry sources, however, said the country’s per capita income is around $2,763 in FY23.
Bangladesh’s GDP growth was 7.1 per cent and the per capita income stood at $2,793 in FY22, according to BBS data.
According to the Bangladesh Development Update April 2023 by the World Bank, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by 5.2 per cent in FY23. This lower projection is influenced by factors such as elevated inflation, tighter financial conditions, disruptive import restrictions, and global economic uncertainty.
In line with these, the Asian Development Bank also reported in April that Bangladesh’s GDP will grow by 5.3 per cent in FY23.
Meanwhile, State Minister Shamsul also said that the ADP implementation rate was 50.33 per cent in the first 10 months of FY24.
In the same period last year, the rate was 54.57 per cent, according to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division progress report.
Ministries, divisions with highest allocations
According to the new ADP for FY24, the highest 10 allocation recipient ministries and divisions include the Local Government Division (Tk 40,503 crore or 15.40 per cent of total),
Road Transport and Highways Division (Tk 34,062 crore or 12.95 per cent), Power Division (Tk 33,775 crore or 12.84 per cent), Railways Ministry (Tk 14,960 crore or 5.69 per cent).
Also, the Secondary and Higher Education Division got Tk 14,086 crore or 5.36 per cent, Science and Technology Ministry Tk 12,980 crore or 4.94 per cent, Health Services Division Tk 12,209 crore or 4.64 per cent, the Primary and Mass Education Ministry Tk 12,018 crore or 4.57 per cent, Shipping Ministry Tk 9,474 crore or 3.60 per cent, and Bridges Division got Tk 9,064 crore or 3.45 per cent of the total ADP allocation.
Top 10 projects
In the new ADP, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project received an allocation of Tk 9,707 crore; Matarbari 2x600 MW Ultra Super Critical Coal Fired Power Project (1st revised) Tk 9,081 crore; 4th Primary Education Development.
Programme (1st revised) Tk 8,586 crore; Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway Construction (1st revised) Tk 5,870 crore; Padma Bridge Rail Link (1st revised) Tk 5,500 crore; Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Expansion (1st phase, 1st revised) Tk 5,499 crore.
Also, Physical Feasibility Development (1st revised) got Tk 4,696 crore; Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line-1) Tk 3,911 crore; Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge Construction Project Tk 3,778 crore; and Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line-6) (2nd revised) Tk 3,425 crore.
