The projects, which are scheduled to end in a year, will get 100 percent allocation in a single chunk at the beginning of the fiscal in line with a new ADP roadmap.
The implementation agencies have long been blaming untimely disbursement of funds as a major barrier to timely implement the projects in infrastructure, transportation, health and education sectors.
Top policy makers of the government, including Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK Khandaker and Agricultural Minister Matia Chowdhury, at a meeting last month devised the roadmap.
The officials said poor implementation of ADP has become a major worry for the successive tenure, including the Awami League-led alliance.
The implementation rate stood at 37 percent during the period between July and February of the current fiscal 2010-11, two percent lower than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The development partners, who lend money through ADP, do not disburse full fund because of sluggish progress. In the current fiscal, the lenders have held back more than Tk 30 million and forced the government to adjust the ADP at Tk 351.30 billion from Tk 385 billion.
The government will give second priority to the selected projects by the respective ministries. Like the one-year projects, the selected projects will also be given 100 percent allocation, the officials said.
The ADP projects, which will be given low priority, will get 50 percent of the annual allocation. The government will disburse the remaining portion after scrutinising the progress reports on the projects.
Planning ministry sources said the size of the next year’s ADP will be Tk 447 billion, an increase by nearly 30 percent over the current fiscal.
Mirza Azizul Islam, a former adviser of the military-backed caretaker government, said even if the ADP is substantially raised, it could never be called ambitious.
He expressed doubts about the government’s ability to implement 90 percent of the revised ADP for the current fiscal.
Mirza Aziz said, “I think this year’s implementation rate will not cross 91 percent achieved in the previous fiscal. Moreover, the implementation rate of the lender-driven projects may fall further
News Source: The Daily Sun