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The government on Tuesday endorsed 16 development projects involving a total cost of Tk Tk 243.62 billion that include mostly rural and urban infrastructure development-related ones.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the projects — at least seven for rural and two for urban infrastructure development — at its meeting in the capital, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Following the ECNEC meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said the government approved a good number of rural infrastructure-development projects as it wants the villages to be more developed.
“It’s our mission to improve the villages,” he told journalists, replying to a question on such huge projects ahead of the upcoming national election, and that the government has been pursuing austerity measures for some time now.
“We are aware of the austerity. So, we are not taking fresh projects for constructing highways or buildings. We are only undertaking those ones which are really needed,” he added.
Of the total expenditure, Tk 128.73 billion will come from the internal resources, Tk161.5 million from the implementing agencies’ own fund and the rest Tk 114.73 billion from the external resources as project assistance.
Of the approved 16 projects, eight are new while eight are revised projects.
Speaking at the meeting, PM Hasina asked the cabinet members and officials concerned to check inflation as it is biting the people in recent months.
“The higher inflationary pressure is affecting the people. It is the duty of all concerned to check inflation,” Mannan quoted the PM as saying.
The PM also emphasised on mobilising foreign aid from the external sources to implement the projects, aiming to reduce pressure on the foreign exchange reserves.
She also asked the authorities concerned to ensure optimum utilisation of foreign assistance to the tune of around US$50 billion in the pipeline.
The planning minister said that the premier asked the authorities concerned, including the Economic Relations Division and the Finance Division to mobilise more foreign aid to finance the development projects.
State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said: “We need to use the foreign aid in the pipeline through executing the projects in time.”
He said the government could use the foreign funding at its best capacity as the interest rate is less than the borrowings from the local market.
PM Hasina also asked the authorities concerned to gradually ensure cent-per cent agriculture irrigation through solar-powered pumps, Mr Mannan told the journalists.
She also directed the Ministry of Agriculture to set-high the solar panels so that farming of onion, ginger, turmeric, fish, etc. could take place under the systems.
Mannan said the government would give necessary support, including tax-related facilities, if the private sector comes forward to install the solar panel systems.
Mr Mannan said the Prime Minister, however, directed the executing agencies to make sure that land is used as less as possible during implementation of such projects.
About the country’s macroeconomic scenario, the planning minister said that the inward remittance has increased along with the imports and exports while the foreign currency reserves were in a state of stability.
With a stable price trend of rice, he expected the general point-to-point inflation to come down in the coming days.
The ECNEC meeting approved Tk 63.45 billion for Improving Urban Governance and Infrastructure Project (IUGIP), agriculture irrigation through solar-powered pumps (2nd revised) at an additional cost of Tk 2.01 billion, infrastructures development of BCS Tax Academy (1st phase) at Tk 1.16 billion, construction of Bangladesh Chancery Complex at Berlin in Germany (1st revised) at an additional cost of Tk 602.5 million, construction of Sunamganj-Madanpur-Dirai-Shalla-Jolshukha-Ajmiriganj-Habiganj highway’s Shalla-Jolshukha road portion (1st revised) at an additional Tk 2.29 billion, construction of underpass at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at Tk 11.84 billion, and 3rd city operations and infrastructural development, sector (3rd revised) project at an additional cost of Tk 845.2 million.
It also endorsed some other projects including replacement and modernisation of signaling and interlocking system at Ishwardi-Parbatipur section stations of western region of Bangladesh Railway at Tk 6.48 billion, Economic Acceleration and Resilience for NEET (EARN) project at Tk 33.48 billion, Khurushkul Special Ashrayan Project (1st revised) at an additional cost of Tk 1.33 billion, Rural connectivity improvement project, RCIP, (1st revised) at an additional cost of Tk 28.25 billion, important upazila and union roads widening and strengthening at Chattogram upazila at Tk 31.10 billion, constructing 1,490-metre-long PC girder bridge over the Teesta River on the connecting road between Panchpir Bazar-Chilmari upazila Sadar at Sundarganj upazila under Gaibandha district (3rd revised) at an additional Tk 393 million, important upazila and union roads widening and strengthening at Rajshahi Division at Tk 24 billion, important rural infrastructures development at Noakhali, Feni and Laxmipur districts at Tk 26.50 billion, and herringbone bond for making rural earth roads sustainable-II (1st revised) at an additional cost of Tk 9.88 billion.
Ministers, the Planning Commission members and high officials concerned were also present at the meeting.
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