It soars to Tk 57,120 crore from Tk 52,366 crore before polls
The government for the first time in the country’s history has revised upward the allocation for the annual development programme for the current fiscal year
to Tk 57,120 crore from the original size of Tk 55,000 crore.
Planning ministry officials said the size of the revised ADP soared as the development budgets of the autonomous bodies were included in the ADP for the first time.
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council on March 20 approved a revised ADP of Tk 52,366 crore by slashing the original ADP of Tk 55,000 crore, although the Planning Division had recommended that the size of the revised ADP should be Tk 50,366 crore.
The ECNEC meeting, however, kept a provision that the development programmes of the autonomous bodies would be included in the revised ADP.
Planning ministry sources said the ECNEC approved a bigger revised ADP following demand from different ministries and ruling party lawmakers as the general elections were approaching.
‘The final revised ADP has stood at Tk 57,120 crore as Tk 4,754 crore has been added to it from the ongoing projects of the government’s autonomous bodies,’ Shamsul Alam, member of the General Economics Division under the Planning Commission, told New Age on Tuesday.
The project assistance to the final revised ADP remain unchanged to Tk 18,500 crore, where the government exchequer will provide Tk 38,620 crore instead of Tk 33,866 crore set at the ECNEC meeting.
‘It was decided by the ECNEC meeting on March 20 that the project financing of the autonomous bodies of the government would be added to the revised ADP for the current fiscal year. But it was not figured out in money,’ Shamsul said.
‘So, it does not require further approval from the ECNEC, the highest policy making body headed by the prime minister,’ he said.
Out of the additional Tk 4,754 crore, Tk 8.93 crore was added to the revised ADP from the industry sector, Tk 2,005.74 crore from oil, gas and mineral resources sector, Tk 572.25 crore from transport sector, Tk 26.50 crore from communication sector, Tk 2,122.91 crore from planning of infrastructure, water supply and housing sector, and Tk 17.93 crore from education and religion sector, Planning Division sources said.
Former caretaker government’s finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said it seemed that the government wanted to show people that it had set a large ADP for development.
‘Otherwise, I do not see any basis or justification for adding project financing of the government’s autonomous bodies to the ADP,’ Mirza Aziz said.
‘During my time [as finance adviser], we had made a separate section to supervise the project financing of autonomous bodies of the government as it does not provide resources for the project financing of the autonomous bodies,’ he said.
So, it can not be the justification for including the project financing of the autonomous bodies to the ADP as they finance their projects with their own resources, he said.
-With New Age input
