Staff Reporter :
The government has downsized the current Annual Development Programme (ADP) by 7 per cent to Tk 93,894 crore amid slow budget implementation.
The National Economic Council (NEC), the highest policy making body of the government, cleared the trimming of the ADP and approved the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current fiscal (2015-16) at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday.
The ADP for the last 2014-15 fiscal was curtailed by 6.61 per cent.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told the media after the meeting that the ADP for 2015-16 fiscal has been downsized to Tk 98,394 crore.
Kamal said the cut in ADP was due to slow implementation of development projects.
In the eight months of the current fiscal (July 2015 to February 2016), the ADP implementation is only 34 per cent, which means only Tk 34,674 crore has been spent.
The implementation rate of ADP in the current fiscal year is the lowest for the last seven years of the AL-led government.
The Planning Minister also said that Bangladesh will come out from 6 per cent growth trap this year by achieving a 7.05 GDP growth.
“This is a matter of pride for the whole nation as we’ve achieved 7.05 per cent GDP growth rate for the first time,” he added.
He also said that per capita income is expected to rise to $1,466 at the end of the fiscal from $1316 during the previous fiscal.
