ADP implementation progress record low in first nine months of FY23

The Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation registered a record low of 41.65% progress in the first nine months of the current fiscal year due to the ministries and divisions not being able to spend the desired allocation, said data from  Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The rate of ADP implementation in the July-March period was 45.05% in FY22.

Among the 15 ministries and divisions that have got some 83% of the total ADP allocation for this fiscal year, six ministers and divisions – Health Service Division, Water Resources, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Secondary and Higher Education Division and the Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Housing and Public Works spent below 40% in the July-March of FY23.

Among the ministries and divisions that received the highest allocation the Ministry of Shipping, Health Service Division, and Water Resources ministry's implementation rate was stuck at 27% in the first nine months.

In the current economic situation, work on many projects has been halted due to the increase in the cost of construction materials.

Besides, government austerity in project spending in view of the present economic situation restricted fund spending in some projects causing slow implementation of the ADP, said IMED officials. 

IMED officials said that although the government has devised various strategies to implement the ADP, the ministries and divisions are yet to develop their implementation capacity.

Complexities in tendering, land acquisition, and foreign fund sourcing, delays in administrative approval and appointment of project directors, lack of proper feasibility studies, and lack of coordination among the implementing agencies in the field also got in the way of ADP implementation, said IMED officials.

The Planning Commission has already reduced the revised ADP size allocation by 7.51% or Tk 18,500 crore as the money could not be spent.

However, among the ministries and divisions that received the highest allocation, the bridge division spent 63% and the power department spent 55.79% in the first nine months.