The National Economic Council (NEC) on Wednesday approved Tk 227,566.09-crore Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current fiscal year (FY23), cutting Tk 18,500 crore from the allocation of foreign sources portion in the original ADP outlay.

Out of the total RADP allocation, Tk 153,066.09 crore will be drawn from the local sources while the rest of Tk 74,500 crore will come from the foreign sources. The funding from the local sources remained intact in the RADP.

The approval came from the NEC meeting chaired by NEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the NEC Conference Room in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

Earlier, the original layout of ADP was finalised at Tk 246,066 crore. Of the amount, Tk 153,066 crore was estimated to come from the local sources, while Tk 93,000 crore from foreign sources as project assistance. But now the funding from external sources was slashed by Tk 18,500 crore.

“In the revised ADP, the overall allocation of the concerned autonomous bodies and corporations remained intact at Tk 8,994.58 crore. So, with the allocation of the autonomous bodies and corporations, the overall size of RADP in the current fiscal year reached Tk 2,36,560.67 crore,” said State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam at a press briefing.

The number of projects in the RADP reached 1,525, including 1,410 investment projects and 115 are technical assistance projects, he said.

If 102 projects from the autonomous bodies and corporations are added, then the total number of projects in the RADP would reach 1,627 ones.

About the performances of the major macroeconomic indicators, the state minister said the inward remittance has been witnessing an uptrend since October 2022, while the export earnings have also been witnessing buoyant performances since September 2022.

Besides, he said the general point to point inflation has been witnessing a downtrend since August 2022, while the foreign currency reserve on February 22, 2023 was more than US$32 billion.

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.

Replying to a question, he said although the government has much capacity in utilisation of local resources, it still lacks capacity to some extent in utilization of funds 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 funds from foreign sources. Moreover, the foreign aid in the pipeline is now nearly $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 10 sectors with the highest allocation are transport and communication with Tk 61,810 crore (27.16pc), power and energy with Tk 38,317 crore (16.84pc) and housing and community amenities with Tk 25,939 crore (11.40pc).

Besides, local government and rural development with Tk 20,231 crore (8.89pc), education with Tk 18,431 crore (8.10pc), health with Tk 12,745 crore (5.60pc), environment, climate change and water resources with Tk 12,600 crore (5.54pc), agriculture with Tk 9,394 crore (4.13pc), industry and Economic services with Tk 4,689 crore (2.06pc and religion, culture and entertainment sector with Tk 4,271 crore (1.18 pc).

In terms of ministry and Division wise allocation, the Local Government Division received the highest RADP allocation of Tk 39,563 crore (17.68pc) followed by Road Transport and Highways Division with Tk 29,897 crore (13.36pc) and Power Division with Tk 25,247 crore (11.28pc).