ADP implementation hits just 41.41 per cent in July-April as post-uprising slump lingers

The sluggish pace of Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation following last year’s July Uprising continues to weigh on government spending, the latest official data show.

In the first 10 months of the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal year, ministries and divisions implemented only 41.41 per cent of the total development allocation.

According to data released on Saturday by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Ministry of Planning, total expenditure during the period stood at Tk 865.16 billion.

The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government had initially set an ambitious ADP expenditure target of Tk 2.38 trillion for the fiscal year.

Owing to sluggish implementation, the National Economic Council (NEC) cut the development budget by Tk 300 billion, reducing it to a revised Tk 2.08 trillion on 12 January.

The government will have to spend a staggering Tk 1.22 trillion in the remaining two months of the fiscal year — May and June.

During the same July-April period of the previous 2024-25 fiscal year, the government spent Tk 934.24 billion, representing an implementation rate of 41.31 per cent.

An analysis of the IMED data shows that administrative stagnation caused by law-and-order challenges after the July Uprising, coupled with massive bureaucratic reshuffles, continues to hamper project execution.

The political landscape has since shifted, with the BNP, led by Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, forming the current elected government. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury is scheduled to present his government’s first budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year on 11 June.

An NEC meeting chaired by the prime minister on 18 May has already approved a significantly larger ADP of Tk 3.08 trillion for the next fiscal year.

In April alone, ministries spent Tk 109.09 billion, a marginal increase from Tk 105.30 billion in April of the previous year.

The decline in development spending began sharply under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government. The ousted Awami League administration had originally passed a massive Tk 2.78 trillion ADP for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The interim administration revised it down to Tk 2.26 trillion, but ultimately spent only Tk 1.53 trillion, resulting in an overall implementation rate of 67.85 per cent — the lowest recorded in 20 years.

The ADP implementation rate was 80.63 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The interim government’s policy of aggressively prioritising essential schemes led to funding cuts or outright suspensions for numerous projects initiated by the previous regime, dragging down overall expenditure.

While ADP spending traditionally gathers pace in the final months of a fiscal year, the current execution gap remains extraordinarily wide.

By comparison, the ADP implementation rate during the July-April period was 49.26 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal year, 50.33 per cent in 2022-23 and 54.57 per cent in 2021-22.

The IMED report showed that the 15 highest-funded ministries and divisions, which collectively account for 70.97 per cent of the revised Tk 2.08 trillion ADP, achieved an average implementation rate of 50.76 per cent so far.

The Ministry of Science and Technology topped the chart, executing 80.20 per cent of its allocation. It was followed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division at 68.27 per cent and the Ministry of Agriculture at 62.01 per cent.

Among other major ministries and divisions, the Ministry of Water Resources recorded an implementation rate of 61.50 per cent, followed by the Local Government Division at 55.97 per cent, the Power Division at 50.84 per cent and the Bridges Division at 48.42 per cent.

The Secondary and Higher Education Division implemented 44.49 per cent of its allocation, while the Ministry of Shipping recorded 42.79 per cent and the Road Transport and Highways Division 39.93 per cent.

The Technical and Madrasah Education Division posted an implementation rate of 37.67 per cent, slightly ahead of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works at 37.61 per cent.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education implemented 28.27 per cent, while the Health Services Division recorded the lowest rate among the major ministries and divisions at 22.15 per cent.