After 11 years, the outlay of the Annual Development Programme, or ADP, could almost flatten as revenue income fell in the aftermath of coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Tuesday.
They said the Planning Commission, ( PC) is likely to frame an ADP worth Tk 2.05 trillion for fiscal year 2021, registering a mere 1.0 per cent growth over the outgoing fiscal. The size of the current fiscal's ADP is Tk 2.027 trillion.
Analysts and officials said the government had to exercise caution over preparing the development programme as there was a possibility of huge shortage of income from internal resources.
"We were very cautious while framing the ADP as the country is addressing the impact of deadly coronavirus on the economy," Commission chief Khalilur Rahman told the FE.
But important sectors such as health, agriculture and social services would get higher allocations in the development budget for the next year, he added.
"The Ministry of Finance has already given us the envelope of resources for the next ADP. Now we are trying to accommodate all the ongoing important development projects with adequate allocations," Mr Rahman said.
Another Commission official said they are going to frame a Tk 2.025 trillion-ADP for the next fiscal.
Out of the funds, some Tk 1.346 trillion would come from the internal resources and the remaining Tk 705 billion from the external resources as project aid.
The official said for the first time since FY 2009-10, the Awami League-led government is having to devise the ADP without growth in allocations.
An FE analysis shows that Sheikh Hasina's government has been framing the development budget maintaining a 19 per cent growth in terms of fund allocations on an average every year since FY2009-10 when it announced its first budget.
But the growth rate in public investment in the development programme is set to fall to only 1.0 per cent compared with the current allocations.
After coming to power in 2009, it framed a Tk 256 billion worth ADP.
Public investment for the development budget recorded a robust 19 per cent growth over the previous year. During FY 2020, the government framed a Tk 2.027 trillion ADP, expanding the allocation by 17 per cent over the year before.
Analysts said the impact of the coronavirus has forced the government to cut its normal trend in public fund expansion for the development work.
It would affect the implementation of some development projects in future, they added.
When asked, a top Commission official, requesting anonymity, said they would allocate necessary amount of funds to the mega projects and important projects as well in the upcoming ADP.
"Only the less important and moderately important ones could get lower funds than their demands for the next fiscal," he added.
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