Dhaka: ADP to get Tk 25600 crore

Dhaka: The Caretaker Government has finalised the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next fiscal year at Tk 25600 crore, subject to the approval by the National Economic Council (NEC) on June 7.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakruddin Ahmed is expected to chair the NEC meeting and approve the ADP incorporating 876 projects that is to be announced as development part of the budget for 2008-09 fiscal.

In absence of the parliament, the budget is expected to be broadcast through radio and television channels on June 10 for the second successive year.

Officials, who were fine-tuning the draft ADP, gave a final touch to it on Tuesday adding Tk 100 crore with an earlier lay out of Tk 25,500 crore.

The size of the overall budget for the next fiscal year (2008-09) will also get an expansion with it and will stand at Tk 99600 crore, highly placed sources in the Government said.

Finance and Planning Adviser Dr Mirza AB Azizul Islam recently said size of the ADB in the upcoming budget would be Tk 25,500 crore. In the current budget, it is Tk 22,500 crore downsized from original Tk 26,500 crore.

The Adviser also hinted that the annual budget would be sized at around Tk 99500 crore. The budget for the running fiscal stands at Tk 79,614 crore excluding Tk 7,523 crore liabilities of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

The ADP figure was widened by Tk 100 crore as the Finance Adviser was satisfied to include some new agricultural development projects in it, a senior official of the planning ministry said.

He said agriculture, water resources, rural development and education will get priority in ADP which will be given 24 per cent allocations from the total outlay.

To help tackle inflation and improve purchasing power of people, employment generating projects have been given emphasise in the 2008-09 ADP, the official added.

Out of the total ADP outlay, 53 per cent will be supplied from the internal resources while the rest from the external sources (foreign aid), he said.

Meanwhile the nature of the new ADP as well as the budget is going to be exceptional from the traditional process. The Government, shifting from the usual trend of increasing the ADP allocation every year, is going to lower the budget to keep it in a realistic figure.

The New ADP will be Tk 900 crore less than the original allocation of the current ADP.

Experienced from the records of poor ADP implementation in the previous years, the government has decided to limit it in planning the next year's development. Rather, the government will increase subsidy in various sectors including agriculture, fuel and social safety-net schemes.

During the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, a total of Tk 12,233 crore has been spent to implement the ADP.

This expenditure is 54 per cent of revised ADP of Tk 22,500 crore and 46 per cent of original ADP (Tk 26,500 crore), the Planning Ministry sources said.