Staff Reporter:
The pace of implementation of development projects slowed down in July, the first month of the current fiscal, due to student agitations and mass uprisings.
The anti-discrimination movement took place throughout the month of July. Public life almost came to a standstill in the movement. This has affected the development projects.
Annual Development Program (ADP) expenditure has decreased by Tk 567 crore in the first month of the current financial year compared to the same period of the previous year. The total spent amount is Tk 2, 922 crore. The amount of expenditure in July 2023 was Tk 3,489 crore.
The Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Ministry of Planning has re-leased the updated picture of ADP implementation for the month of July. It said only 1.05 percent of ADP was spent last July.
IMED officials said that when the movement spread across the country, in the second half of July, the then Sheikh Hasina government took measures to restrict the movement of people including curfew. As a result of this, many projects were stopped. Cost of money is also reduced.
According to IMED sources, the amount spent in July included Tk 1,298 crore from internal sources, Tk 1,251 crore from foreign loans and Tk 374 crore from the implementing agency’s own funds.
The size of ADP for the current financial year is Tk 2,78,288 crore against some 1352 projects. The pace of implementation of ADP slows for a few months in the beginning of every financial year.
Meanwhile, in July, 15 ministries and divisions could not spend any Taka against any projects.
Those are – Ministry of Water Resources; Bridge Division; Civil Aviation and Tourism; Department of Health Education and Family Welfare; Prime Minister’s Office (including bulk allocation); Ministry of Industry; Ministry of Religious Affairs; CHT Affairs Ministry (with bulk allocation); Internal Resources Division; Rural Development and Cooperatives Division; Financial Institutions Division; Law and Jus-tice Division; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) and Parliament Secretariat.
Annual Development Program (ADP) was not implemented at the desired rate in the just concluded fi-nancial year 2023-24.
The Ministry of Planning has given six reasons for this. The factors that have hampered the implementa-tion of ADP are: 1. Due to the increase in the value of the US dollar, opening of letters of credit (LC) for import of project goods has become complicated. As a result the suppliers could not deliver the products on time. 2. Lengthy process in land acquisition. 3. Officials were allocated for foreign travel, training, car purchase projects. Due to austerity, expenditure in these sectors has decreased. 4. Labor was scarce on projects in remote areas. Therefore, the implementation of all those projects has been reduced. 5. The project funds are withheld till the end of the financial year. This has slowed the progress of the project. 6. The Ukraine-Russia war has disrupted the supply of goods.
