Bangladesh approves Tk 1.81 trillion development budget

The government has approved Tk 1.81 trillion development budget for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1.

The figure is 14.6 percent higher than the current year’s original outlay and 16.59 percent higher than the revised outlay.

The approval came at a meeting of the National Economic Council or NEC with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Following the meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal briefed the reporters about the outcome of the meeting at the NEC conference in Dhaka on Thursday.

“ADP is the lifeline of the GDP. Therefore, we are moving forward in a planned way to become a developed country by 2041,” he said.

For the next fiscal year, he said, the government has attached the highest priority to infrastructure to boost economic growth.

That’s why the highest allocation has gone to the communications projects such as Padma bridge and railway connectivity, the minister said.

Of the total ADP outlay, Tk 1.13 trillion will be financed from domestic sources, Tk 600 billion from the external sources and Tk 78.69 billion from the autonomous bodies’ own coffers.

As per the sector wise allocations, the transport sector received the biggest chunk of Tk 454.5 billion, making up 26.27 percent of the entire annual expenditure.

The power sector has the second highest allocation of Tk 229.3 billion, followed by Tk 178.9 billion for physical planning, water supply and housing, and Tk 166.9 billion for rural development.

As much as Tk 300 billion has been earmarked for the ongoing seven mega projects.

As per the project wise allocation, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant got Tk 111 billion, which is the largest allocation for a single project.

It was followed by Padma Rail Link Project with Tk 53.3 billion, and Padma Bridge Construction Project with Tk 43.9 billion.

As much as Tk 39 billion has been sanctioned for Metro Rail Project, Tk 21.7 billion for Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project, Tk 19 billion for Karnaphuli Tunnel Construction Project and Tk 14.5 billion for Dohajari-Ramu-Cox’s Bazar-Ghumdhum Project.

On Mar 6, the government revised the ADP for fiscal 2017-18, downsizing the allocation to Tk 1.48 trillion from the original outlay of Tk 1.56 trillion due to the slow implementation of development programme.