Worst ADP implementation by 55 govt agencies:Daily Sun

  Some 55 government agencies posted the worst ADP implementation performance in four years, at only 2 percent for the first month of the current fiscal year. Some 18 implementing agencies could not even spend a single penny in July, while 22 other could manage to achieve only 1 percent, latest data released by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) show. This performance was
even worse than the 3 percent ADP progress posted in July last year amid violent street protests waged by opposition allies demanding election under a caretaker government, which severely disrupted development activities planned by the government. ADP implementations reached its peak at 4 percent during the same period in 2011-12 FY and in the following two years— the rate moderated to 3 percent, IMED figures suggest. In terms of the amount of money spent, however, this year’s performance was better than the previous year. ADP spending stood at Tk 1,847 crore in July this year, up from Tk 1,743 crore in the same month a year ago. This year’s original ADP’s size was bigger as well at Tk 80,315 crore, which was Tk 65,872 crore last year. Spending from local resources remained unchanged at 3 percent this year, but project assistance utilisation nosedived to 1 percent only, down from 5 percent during the month of July in 2012-13FY. Yearly expansion of ADP’s size demonstrates the government’s plan to build infrastructures and expand output, which analysts also see very important against the backdrop of a declining trend in private investments. ADP implementation usually remains low during the first half of any fiscal, but gains pace in the later half thanks to government’s last-minute spending spree, a trend which analysts do not support, fearing it could lead to misuse of public money and low-quality development works. Performance of top ten ministries and divisions, which saw a total allocations of Tk 58,206.56 crore or 72 percent of the outlay, averaged at 3 percent as they managed to spend Tk nearly Tk 1,503 crore in July. The second-highest fund receiver bridges division showed the highest preference by making 7 percent progress in ADP implementation, followed by the highest allocated local government division’s 5 percent and power division’s 2 percent that also received the second highest allocation with the Bridges Division. The ministry of science and technology came out the worst performer out of the top ten agencies, which could not spend a single penny in a month, while other six agencies also showed bleak performance.