Health sector gets biggest boost in next year’s development budget
The government seems to have paid heed to the growing demands a bigger health budget, with its allocation from the total annual development programme soaring 28.92 % next fiscal year, the highest among the 12 sectors.
Next fiscal year, some Tk 13,033 crore has been assigned to the health sector that is bursting at the seams with the escalating caseloads from the Tk 205,145 crore ADP approved by the National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday.
Of the money likely to the health sector, Tk 4,282 crore would come from the external sources. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have each approved $100 million to assist the government to meet up the growing expenditure in the sector. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is also providing finances for medical sector.
The agriculture sector saw the second-highest allocation growth of 26.43 %. The government reserve Tk 8,382 crore for fiscal 2020-21, up from Tk 6,524 crore this year.
The highest allocation visited the transport sector, which received Tk 52,183 crore, or 25.44 % of the ADP.
"The prime minister has said if the health and agriculture ministries seek more funds, the federal government would be ready to provide," Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters yesterday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and Mannan attended the NEC meeting through video-conferencing from Gonobhaban, the official residence of the premier, due to the social-distancing measures set up by the government to avoid the spread of the virus.
All of those other members of the cabinet took part from the auditorium of the NEC in Agargaon.
The ADP came as Bangladesh continues to face significant healthcare challenges in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
The health system is underdeveloped and underfunded, with only 9.9 doctors, nurses and midwives and 8.8 hospital beds per 10,000 people, while current health expenditure is only 2.4 per cent of GDP, said the Asian Development Bank recently.
The physical planning, water supply and housing sector received the second-highest allocation of Tk 25,795 crore, or 12.57 % of the ADP.
The electricity sector accounted for 12.09 % of the allocation, the training and religion sector 11.40 %, the science and ICT sector 8.99 % and the rural development sector 7.58 per cent.
The very best 10 sectors take into account 93.19 per cent of the allocation.
The next ADP is merely 6.34 per cent higher than the existing one to record the cheapest growth at least since fiscal 2011-12, as the federal government directs resources to jumpstart the economy battered by the global pandemic.
The NEC approved the ADP for 1,584 projects. Besides, it gave consent to 89 projects of state-run enterprises and corporations involving Tk 9,466 crore.
Of the ADP, Tk 134,643 crore will be financed through own resources, up 2.84 % from the revised ADP because of this fiscal year. The rest Tk 70,502 crore will be funded by external sources, up 13.71 %.
