The implementation rate of the annual development programme hitting a decade鈥檚 low in the first eight months of the financial year raises concern. Only 24.17 per cent of the ADP budget has, keeping to the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, been used in the eight months. The rate was much lower in the first seven months, with only 21.52 per cent, and improved slightly in the eighth. Most ministries and divisions, including those having the highest ADP allocation, such as the transport and communications sector and local government and rural development, could spend less than a fourth of the budget. Of the overall implementation rate, the use of local funds in was recorded at 21.13 per cent while the use of foreign funds was recorded at 27.47 per cent. The evaluation agency attributes the low implementation rate to the political upheaval centring on the July-August uprising, which overthrew the Awami League regime. Against this backdrop, the National Economic Council has decided to revise down the ADP size by Tk 49,000 crore to Tk 2.16 lakh crore from Tk 2.65 lakh crore, posting an 18.49 per cent cut. This is, however, assuring that the government has asked the ministries to speed up implementation.
When the ADP implementation rate consistently falling for several financial years is as it exposes the poor capacity of public agencies and the widens the gap between planning and execution, it is especially worrying now as private investment has also remained very low because of political unrest. Development experts and economists have repeatedly criticised the government for its failure to build national capacity to timely implement development projects and judiciously spend public money. They have also pointed out the flaws in the development model pursued by successive governments that appear to count its success by the number of big projects. According to studies and analyses, delays in procurement and fund release, the procrastination of work by private contractors, weak project management capacity of line ministries, delay in land acquisition and fund management, lack of institutional capacity to deal with so many projects at a time, lengthy tender processes, irregularities and corruption and a proliferation of new development projects are factors that contribute to the inability to timely complete the projects. A wide gap between planning and implementation results in a delayed implementation of projects, which has a manifold economic impact by way of increased project expenditure costs.
The government should, therefore, invest in developing the implementation and monitoring capacity of public agencies and address the issues that hold back a faster implementation of projects under the annual development programme.
