Staff Reporter:
The National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday approved a Taka two lakh crore Revised Annual De-velopment Program (RADP) for the current fiscal year 2025–‘26 with the transport and communication sector witnessing the highest allocation.
The approval came from a meeting held at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area with Chief Adviser and NEC Chairperson Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
However, considering the autonomous bodies’ and corporations’ own fund, the RADP size stood at Tk 2,08,935.53 crore.
Planning Adviser Professor Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud briefed reporters after the meeting.
Officials said the revision was undertaken in line with the practice of previous years, taking into account the country’s resource position, availability of foreign financing and the overall macroeconomic situa-tion.
Of the Tk two lakh crore RADP for FY2025–‘26, Tk 1,28,000 crore will come from domestic sources, while Tk 72,000 crore will be financed from foreign sources.
Compared to the original ADP, the revised program has seen a reduction of Tk 16,000 crore from do-mestic financing and Tk 14,000 crore from foreign sources, resulting in a total cut of Tk 30,000 crore.
In addition, the RADP allocation for autonomous bodies and corporations has been set at Tk 8,935.53 crore, of which Tk 8,930.53 crore will be financed from domestic sources and Tk five crore from for-eign sources.
With this, the overall size of the RADP, including autonomous and corporate projects, has reached at Tk 2,08,935.53 crore.
The total number of projects under the revised ADP stands at 1,330. These include 1,108 investment projects, 35 feasibility study projects, 121 technical assistance projects and 66 projects being implement-ed by autonomous bodies and corporations using their own funds.
A total of 286 projects have been earmarked for completion by June 30, 2026.
The program also includes 170 projects funded by the Climate Change Trust Fund, reflecting the gov-ernment’s continued emphasis on climate adaptation and resilience.
In terms of sectoral allocation, five sectors have received the highest priority under the revised ADP.
These are transport and communication; power and energy; housing and community facilities; education; and local government and rural development.
Together, these five sectors account for Tk 1,21,118 crore, representing 60.54 per cent of the total RADP allocation.
On a ministry and division-wise basis, the highest allocations have gone to the Local Government Divi-sion, followed by the Road Transport and Highways Division and the Power Division.
Other ministries and divisions receiving significant allocations include the Ministry of Science and Tech-nology, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Secondary and Higher Education Division, Ministry of Shipping, Bridges Division and the Ministry of Railways.
The revised ADP has included some 856 new unapproved projects without allocation, while another 157 unapproved projects without allocation have been incorporated to facilitate access to foreign assistance.
Additionally, 35 new unapproved projects without allocation have been included under the own-financing of implementing agencies.
A total of 81 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects have also been included in the revised program.
Officials said the successful implementation of the revised ADP would play a crucial role in expanding economic activities, accelerating GDP growth, generating employment and improving the quality of ed-ucation and healthcare services.
They added that the program is also expected to contribute to human resource development, achieving self-sufficiency in food production, poverty alleviation and the overall socio-economic development of the country, helping Bangladesh move closer to its targeted growth objectives.
The NEC meeting was attended by the Planning Adviser and other members of the Advisers Council, the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, members of the Planning Commission, as well as senior secretaries and secretaries from various minis-tries and divisions.
