DHAKA, March 1, 2023 (BSS) - The National Economic Council (NEC) today 
approved a Taka 2,27,566.09 crore Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) 
for the current fiscal year (FY23) making a Taka 18,500 crore cut from the 
allocation of foreign sources portion of the original ADP outlay.

Out of the total RADP allocation, Taka 1,53,066.09 crore will come from the 
local sources while the rest of Taka 74,500 crore will come from the foreign 
sources. The funding from the local sources in the RADP remained intact.

The approval came from the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) 
held today with its Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair 
at the NEC Conference Room in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul 
Alam said the overall allocation of the concerned autonomous bodies and 
corporations in the revised ADP remained intact at Taka 8,994.58 crore. 

Considering the allocation of the autonomous bodies and corporations, the 
overall size of the RADP in the current fiscal year reached Taka 2,36,560.67 
crore.

Dr Alam informed that the number of projects in the RADP reached 1,525 of 
which 1,410 are investment projects while the rest of 115 are technical 
assistance projects.

However, if some 102 projects from the autonomous bodies and corporations are 
added, then the total number of projects in the RADP reached 1,627.

Touching upon the performances of the major macroeconomic indicators, the 
State Minister said that the inward remittance has been witnessing uptrend 
since October last while the export earnings have also been witnessing 
buoyant performances since September last year.

Besides, he said that the general point to point inflation has been 
witnessing downtrend since August last year while the foreign currency 
reserve on February 22 this year was more than US$32 billion.

"In totality, we can say that the economy of Bangladesh has made a turnaround 
under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he added.

Answering to a question, Dr Alam said that the government has been putting 
emphasis continuously more than ever for increasing the quality and standards 
of project works.

"The implementation of mega projects indicates that there has been a quantum 
jump in our efforts," he said, adding that there has also been qualitative 
changes in implementation.

Replying to another question, the State Minister for Planning said that the 
government had to go for price adjustments in power tariff since it has to 
keep the budget deficit in a certain limit.

Planning Division Secretary Satyajit Karmakar said they prioritized food 
security, agriculture and agro-based industries, poverty alleviation, 
employment generation, human resource development and ensuring balanced 
development while framing the revised ADP for the current fiscal year.

Answering to a question on the reduction of Taka 18,500 crore allocation from 
the foreign sources in the RADP, he said that the government is very much 
aware in this regard while the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister 
would sit soon with the concerned ministries and divisions in this regard.

He told another questioner that although the government has much capacity in 
utilization of local resources, but still it lacks capacity to some extent in 
utilization of fund from the foreign sources. 

"The compliance factor of the development partners is a bit complex and their 
bureaucracy is very strong. There are many barriers from their side also. For 
that, we often lag behind in implementing allocation of fund from foreign 
sources. Furthermore, the foreign aid in the pipeline is now nearly US$52 
billion," he added.

The Planning Secretary informed that some 21 ministries and divisions have 
witnessed increased allocation in the RADP while some 37 ministries and 
divisions have witnessed cut in allocation in the RADP. Besides, some 343 
projects are scheduled for completion in the current fiscal year.

In the revised ADP, the transport and communication sector witnessed the 
highest allocation with Taka 61,810 crore (27.16 percent) followed by power 
and energy with Taka 38,317 crore (16.84pc), Housing and community facilities 
with Taka 25,939 crore (11.40pc), local government and rural development with 
Taka 20,231 crore (8.89pc), education with Taka 18,431 crore (8.10pc), health 
with Taka 12,745 crore (5.60pc), environment, climate change and water 
resources with Taka 12,600 crore (5.54pc), agriculture with Taka 9,394 crore 
(4.13pc), industry and Economic services with Taka 4,689 crore (2.06pc) and 
religion, culture and entertainment sector with Taka 4,271 crore (1.18pc).

However, in Ministry and Division-wise allocation, the Local Government 
Division received the highest RADP allocation of Taka 39,563 crore (17.68pc) 
followed by Road Transport and Highways Division with Taka 29,897 crore 
(13.36pc) and Power Division with Taka 25,247 crore (11.28pc).