FY26 Development expenditure at only 8% in four months

Between July and October, Tk 198.78 billion was spent under the ADP, compared with Tk 219.78 billion in the same period last fiscal year

The sluggish pace of Bangladesh’s Annual Development Programme (ADP) continues, with only around two percent of total allocations utilised in the first four months of the 2025-26 fiscal year.

From July to October, expenditure under the ADP reached 8.33 percent of the allocation, slightly higher than 7.90 percent in the same period of 2024-25, but still falling behind previous years.

By comparison, the ADP implementation rate in the first four months was 11.54 percent in FY2024, 12.64 percent the previous year, and 13.06 percent the year before, according to the latest data released Thursday by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

In October alone, 3.23 percent of allocations were spent, marginally higher than 3.15 percent in the same month last year.

Expenditure between July and October stood at Tk 198.78 billion, down from Tk 219.78 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Early in the fiscal year, ADP spending is typically low.

Political unrest in July last year slowed implementation in the previous fiscal year. Law and order challenges, curfews, complete shutdowns, and the aftermath of government collapse disrupted ongoing projects.

Many contractors associated with the previous administration went into hiding, while the interim government reviewed ongoing projects, causing further delays.

Cuts in allocations and politically influenced project suspensions compounded the slow pace, pushing ADP implementation to its lowest level in two decades.

By the end of financial year 2024-25, only 67.85 percent of revised ADP allocations had been spent, nearly 13 percentage points lower than the previous fiscal year, when expenditure reached 80.63 percent.

IMED’s records dating back to 2004-05 show that such low implementation rates are unprecedented.