ADP Spending
Ministries to set autonomous bodies’ target based on capacity
The planning ministry on Sunday decided to ask all ministries to approve allocation for the autonomous wings based on their capacity of spending against the backdrop of dismal performance of autonomous bodies in implementation of self-financed development projects in the financial year 2012-2013.
The project financing of the government’s autonomous bodies was included in the last revised and the current ADP for the first time.
The autonomous bodies spent only 45 per cent of their allocation for development projects although the spending of annual development programme of all ministries and agencies was 96 per cent in the FY13.
The planning ministry held an inter-departmental meeting on the day on the progress of annual development programme for the last and current financial years held at the conference room of the National Economic Council.
Planning secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam presided over the meeting while General Economics Division’s member Shamsul Alam, among other high officials, was present.
‘The government was recommended that it should set the allocation of money for the autonomous bodies according to their actual spending capacity and performance in implementation of the ADP,’ a senior official of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division told New Age after the meeting.
General Economics Division’s member Shamsul Alam said, ‘Under the current ADP the government’s autonomous bodies are implementing 130 projects by their own resources. The Planning Commission recommended that the government should monitor their implementation progress from the next budget.’
‘The meeting also focused on timely procurement, land acquisition process and coordination between ministries to enhance the project works,’ he said.
‘The Planning Commission has also recommended that the government should minimise the transfer of the project directors so that the project works are not hampered,’ Alam said.
Out of the revised ADP size of Tk 57,388 crore including Tk 18,500 as project assistance, the government was able to spend 96 per cent or Tk 50,026 crore during July-June of the FY13.
The ADP implementation progress in the last financial year was 5 per cent, 4 per cent and 3 per cent higher than the FY10, FY11 and the FY12 respectively.
The government’s autonomous bodies spent Tk 2,258 crore or 45 per cent of the total allocation of Tk 5,022 crore during the time.
The government spent Tk 33,217 crore or 98 per cent from Tk 33,866 crore from its own resources.
A total of Tk 649 crore was unutilised as the different ministries failed to carry on their projects timely, IMED data shows.
‘It was unjustified that some of the ministries of the government have failed to spend Tk 650 crore in the last financial year under the development budget,’ the planning secretary said.
‘If the unutilised money was not allocated for the respective authorities, we could allocate the money for other important projects for the development in the country,’ Shafiqul said.
‘The ministries should surrender their unutilised money earlier so that the government can allocate it to other development projects,’ the planning secretary said.
‘So, we have recommended that the government should allocate money for the ministries on the basis of their actual performance from the next financial year,’ Shafiqul said.
The meeting also discussed about the overall implementation progress of the last years’ ADP and what the government should act on how to enhance the implementation progress in the ADP for the current financial year.
-With New Age input
