The draft ADP for the next financial year was finalized in an extended meeting of the Planning Ministry chaired by Planning Minister Abdus Salam on Tuesday. This draft is likely to be approved in the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on May 16.
Speaking about the ADP size in the next budget, mega-infrastructure expert and former secretary Muhammad Faujul Kabir Khan told Prothom Alo that the revenue collection is not up to the expected level at this time of the economy. That is why the size of ADP could not be increased. Not only this, the allocation in ADP in local currency has also been reduced.
People concerned said the government does not have the financial capacity to increase the ADP size. Revenue collection remains limited between 10-12 percent.
Speaking at an event in April, Debpriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow at the non-governmental think tank Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said, “We cannot allocate a single penny for development projects from the revenue budget. Such big projects are being implemented by taking loans, but it is not having any impact on education, health and other socio-economic development. We did a lot of work but why did people not get any benefit?”
