The government has approved a Tk 2,46,066 crore Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the upcoming 2022–23 financial year, in which the transport and energy sectors received the highest allocations.

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Tuesday cleared the ADP during a meeting held at its office, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

At a press conference after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters that of the total allocation, Tk 1,53,066 crore will be provided by the national treasury and Tk 93,000 crore will come from project assistance.

He said 62 ministries and divisions, including transport, power, energy, education, health, and rural development, requested more allocation for the next fiscal, resulting in a larger budget for the next ADP.

“The highest allocation will go to the transportation and communication sector, and the second-highest allocation will go to the power and energy sector,” he said.

However, he said that after allocating Tk 9,937.18 crore to autonomous bodies and corporations, the total ADP allocation for the next fiscal year reached Tk 2,56,003.27 crore.

The new ADP contains 1,435 projects, including 1,244 investment projects, 106 technical assistance projects, and 85 projects to be financed from the autonomous bodies’ and corporations’ own funds.

The proposed expenditure for transport and communication in the next ADP is Tk 70,695 crore and Tk 39,412.36 crore for the power and energy sector.

In the outgoing FY2021-22, the government had planned to spend Tk 2,25,000 crore on development works but later trimmed the budget by 7.87 per cent to Tk 2,07,000 crore — which is still 5 per cent bigger than last year’s revised ADP.

In FY22 ADP, the government had planned to spend Tk 1,37,000 crore from its coffer and secure the rest — Tk 88,024 crore or 39 per cent — from foreign development partners.

Between July and March of FY22, the government implemented 45.56 per cent of the project works under the revised ADP, according to Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division data.

The government also had to cut the project aid (foreign aid) budget by 20 per cent in the revised ADP amid a dreary implementation performance by different ministries.

The government intends to pursue an expansionary spending policy for development projects in the coming years to mitigate the losses suffered in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to table a Tk 6,77,864 crore budget for FY2022-23 in parliament on June 9, with a projected GDP size of Tk 44,12,849 crore.

According to the ministry, there will be a Tk 2,44,913 crore deficit in the next budget, which will be 5.5 per cent of the GDP (in line with the updated base year of 2015-16).

To meet the deficit, the government plans to get 58 per cent of that total from domestic sources and manage the rest 42 per cent — Tk 1,03,095 crore — from foreign aid, grants and loans.