NEC clears biggest ever ADP

The National Economic Council on Thursday approved the biggest ever Tk 97,000 crore Annual Development Programme for the next fiscal year.The size of the ADP for the fiscal year 2015-2016, however, would actually stand at around Tk 1.01 lakh crore if the allocation of Tk 3,997 crore for the state-owned corporations and autonomous bodies was included.
Corporations and autonomous bodies will have to mobilise their own resources to implement their development projects.The approval of the ADP was made at the NEC meeting held at its conference room in Dhaka with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, also the chairperson of the NEC, presiding.The new ADP is about 30 per cent or Tk 22,000 crore higher than that of the revised ADP of Tk 75,000 crore for the current fiscal year.Of the total allocation, Tk 62,500 crore will come from the domestic sources while Tk 34,500 crore is expected to be provided by foreign lenders and development partners as project assistance.Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal termed ‘historic’ the approved ADP as its size crossed Tk 1,00,000 crore mark for the first time.At a briefing after the meeting, he said that the planning ministry had originally placed an ADP of Tk 92,500 crore at the NEC meeting for approval.
‘The prime minister raised the allocation by another Tk 4,500 crore after a number of ministries and divisions, including power and communications, sought additional allocation of Tk 5,000 crore,’ Kamal said.

He said that the government had adopted the ADP giving priority to the communication, power, physical infrastructure, education and health sectors to ensure a balanced development of all regions and high economic growth.The increased allocation of Tk 4,500 crore will be distributed among the ministries and divisions after considering their needs, he said adding that if the ministries made further demands, the government would try to meet them.According to the planning ministry, there are a total of 1,123 projects, including 854 investment projects, 132 technical assistance projects and 125 projects, from the corporations and autonomous bodies in the new ADP.There are another 40 projects kept for implementation under the public-private partnership initiative and 324 projects for completion in the next fiscal year.The transport sector got the highest allocation in the new ADP followed by the power sector, physical planning, water supply and housing sector, education and religious sector, health, nutrition, population and social welfare sector.
The new ADP has also kept some 857 unapproved projects without allocation on the ‘green page’ of the ADP while some 368 unapproved projects have been set aside subject to the availability of funds from project assistance.Kamal said that the government would take all-out measures, including addressing the perennial problems like slow pace of implementation to execute the new ADP.State minister for finance and planning MA Mannan was present at the briefing.

- See more at: http://newagebd.net/120026/nec-clears-biggest-ever-adp/#sthash.Sld5GRIy.dpuf