The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on Wednesday approved 10 projects worth Tk 4,246.72 crore, including one for building Chattogram Tax Building with Tk 437.07 crore.
The approval came from the sixth meeting of the ECNEC in this fiscal year and the fifth meeting of Bangladesh interim government.
The meeting was held on Wednesday at the NEC conference room in at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.
The ECNEC chairperson and chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus presided over the meeting.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, planning adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud said that out of the total project costs of Taka 4,246.72 crore, Taka 3,632.01 crore would come from the government of Bangladesh portion, Tk 205.79 crore as project assistance while Tk 408.92 crore from the concerned organisation鈥檚 own fund.
Of the approved 10 projects, six are new while four are revised projects.
The planning adviser said that they were now processing and thus giving approval to the development projects in a quick manner although they had to scrutinize the projects after assumption of office by the interim government.
He informed that new projects were now being taken while Planning Commission has also requested the authorities concerned to prioritise on local level projects.
Turning to the macroeconomic indicators, Mahmud said that the export earnings were rising again while the pace of inward remittance had also got a momentum.
As a result, the planning adviser said that more fund was being mobilised at the local level while economic activities were also on the rising trend.
Besides, he noted that the inward remittances had also a direct and indirect impact as it energised the economy.
Terming demographic dividend as a 鈥榳indow of opportunity鈥�, Mahmud said that Bangladesh might enjoy such facility in full scale over the next 10 to 15 years.
He also informed that the government might amend the Statistics Law which might allow the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics to publish data of its own on the GDP, inflation, employment and wage rate with support from the concerned experts.
The other projects approved in today鈥檚 meeting were conservation dredging at Poshur Channel in Mongla Port with Taka 1,538.19 crore, collection of auxiliary vessels for Mongla Port (1st Revised) with an additional cost of Taka 169.31 crore, establishment of global Maritime Distress and Safety System & Integrated Maritime Navigation System, 4th revised with an additional cost of Taka 113.85 crore, strengthening sustainable nutrition security through Pulse and Oilseed Production with Taka 265.78 crore, increasing agricultural production through surface water management and utilisation in Sylhet Division with Tk 499.99 crore, reconstruction/rehabilitation of Iron Bridges in the Southern Region of the country, 2nd Revised, with an additional cost of Taka 439.40 crore, Dupitila-1 and Kailashtila-9 wells exploration project with Taka 646.48 crore, construction of Bangladesh Buddhist Monastery Complex at Lumbini conservation area, Nepal project with Taka 68.08 crore and construction of modern food storage,聽 4th Revised, with an additional cost of Taka 68.57 crore.
Besides, the ECNEC meeting also evaluated about nine projects, which had already been approved by the planning adviser.
Advisers concerned attended the meeting while planning commission members and secretaries concerned were also present.
