ADP size may rise 24pc in next budget

The allocation for annual development programme (ADP) in the next fiscal year's budget will be Tk 92,500 crore, which is 24 percent higher than that of the current revised budget.

The ADP size was finalised yesterday at a meeting with Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair and it will be placed in the meeting of the National Economic Council next week.

The size of the ADP may increase in the meeting, as the prime minister raises the allocation every year to meet the demand from different ministries and divisions, an official of the planning ministry said.

The size of the original ADP in the current fiscal year was Tk 80,315 crore, while the planning ministry proposed to slash it to Tk 72,000 crore in the meeting.

However, the prime minister increased the figure by Tk 3,000 crore, to take the final ADP to Tk 75,000 crore.

In the next fiscal year's proposed ADP of Tk 92,500 crore, the size of project aid would be Tk 34,500 crore.

Of the amount, the highest allocation of Tk 20,235 crore will go to the transport sector, of which, the bridges division alone will get Tk 9,000 crore.

The planning ministry official said the Padma bridge got more than Tk 8,100 allocation in the current fiscal year, but about Tk 2,000 crore would remain unspent.

The official said work on the Padma bridge has begun in full swing now. As a result, nearly Tk 8,000 crore may be allocated for the bridge in the next fiscal year. The power sector will get the second highest allocation of Tk 15,485 crore, followed by physical infrastructure sector Tk 10,458 crore, education Tk 10,039 crore, rural infrastructure Tk 8,433 crore, health Tk 6,081 crore and agriculture Tk 4,690 crore.