Development budget to become a casualty of stimulus packages
The annual development programme (ADP) is defined to become a big casualty of the resource reshuffling that the federal government is set to deploy to bankroll the massive stimulus packages announced to jumpstart the economy after the rogue coronavirus has been tamed.
Over the years, the federal government has always increased how big is the development budget by about 20 % from the outgoing year.
But the ADP that the look Minister MA Mannan will be finalising today for fiscal 2020-21 would be 6.33 % greater than this year's revised development budget at Tk 205,145 crore.
To accommodate the massive spending needing in the immediate future, the federal government has already suspended financing to all or any low priority projects.
But allocation for the large projects wouldn't normally be affected, however, within the next fiscal year. Some Tk 50,000 crore to this end.
The Padma Bridge project would get Tk 5,000 crore, Metro Rail project Tk 4,200 crore, Rooppur nuclear power plant Tk 1,582 crore, Payra seaport Tk 700 crore, Karnaphuli river tunnel Tk 500 crore, Padma Rail Link Tk 3,735 crore, Bangabandhu Rail bridge project Tk 2,744 crore and rail track from Dohazari to Gundum project Tk 1,500 crore.
"Medical and agriculture sectors would get priority within the next ADP," Mannan told The Daily Star yesterday.
The pandemic has uncovered the shortcomings in medical sector and the federal government has been able in order to avoid a significant food crisis as a result of the agriculture sector, he said.
So the two sectors warrant the utmost attention.
After finalisation, the ADP will be delivered to the National Economic Council for approval.
Due to social distancing being enforced since March 26 to stop the spread of the deadly bug, it is not clear if the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council chaired by the prime minister would meet, as could have been the case under normal circumstances, to approve the ADP.
The prime minister may approve the ADP through an executive order and thereafter it could be passed in parliament. Alternatively, the prime minister plus some key ministers may sit and give the consent.
"We will send the proposal and the federal government will decide. The problem is different this time around," said Mannan.
The changing situation also compelled the look minister to choose to finalise the ADP on a restricted scale.
Just a few secretaries such as for example those from the finance and planning ministries and the Economic Relations Division plus some members of the planning commission will be present at today's meeting, whereas all secretaries will be present on such an important meeting in previous years.
At the meeting, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics may present the provisional estimate of the gross domestic product (GDP) for this fiscal year. The GDP growth will be 5.5 per cent, down from the 8.2 % hoped for at the start of the fiscal year and greater than the projections made by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
The ADB forecasted that the Bangladesh economy would grow at 3.8 % and the WB between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
