Development spending slumps to 11.75% in five months

The rate lags behind the implementation achieved during the same period of the last year, which was 12.29 percent

The pace of implementing the country’s Annual Development Programme (ADP) has not recovered, with only 11.75 percent of the allocation spent in the first five months of the current fiscal year 2025-26.

The rate lags behind the implementation achieved during the same period of the previous fiscal year, which was marked by political turbulence.

Both the amount spent and the implementation rate in the first five months of the last fiscal year were higher than in the current period.

Expenditure on the ADP from July to November amounted to 11.75 percent of the total allocation, compared with 12.29 percent spent during the same period in the previous FY2024-25.

In the three fiscal years prior to that, the ADP implementation rates in the first five months were significantly higher: 17.06 percent (FY2023-24), 18.41 percent (FY2022-23), and 18.61 percent (FY2021-22).

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the planning ministry released the latest ADP implementation data on Monday.

The figures show that in November alone, 3.42 percent of the monthly allocation was spent, down from 4.40 percent in the corresponding month of the last fiscal year.

Total expenditure from July to November was Tk 280.43 billion, compared with Tk 342.14 billion during the same period last year.

Generally, disbursement for development activities seems lower at the start of the fiscal year and gradually increases over time.

The pace of implementation, however, was slower than usual in July last year due to anti-government protests. Development activities were affected by a deterioration in law and order, imposition of curfews, and complete shutdowns.

When the Awami League government fell in August last year, many contractors aligned with the party went into hiding. Subsequently, the new government decided to scrutinise many projects, leading to stagnation in development activities throughout the entire fiscal year.

The government also suspended some projects, citing the need for budget cuts and claiming some were politically motivated. This had a major impact on the ADP, with the implementation rate hitting a two-decade low.

At the end of FY2024-25, 67.85 percent of the total allocation of the revised ADP was spent, which was nearly 13 percentage points lower than the previous fiscal year.

The ADP expenditure rate was 80.63 percent in FY2023-24.

IMED’s website shows ADP implementation data since FY2004-05, indicating that no year has seen an implementation rate as low as the one observed in the outgoing fiscal year.