ADP to see record foreign funds next fiscal year

Amid the crisis of dollars, the next Annual Development Programme will have a record Tk 1 lakh crore allocation from foreign funds.

According to a planning ministry proposal, the ADP allocation will by Tk 2,65,000 crore, an increase of only 0.76 percent.

Of the amount, the government fund will be Tk 1,65,000 crore, a decrease by 2.37 percent, while foreign fund allocation will rise by 6.38 percent.

The next ADP was finalised yesterday at a meeting presided over by Planning Minister Abdus Salam. It will be placed for approval at the national economic council meeting on May 16.

As part of an austerity measure, government funding for ADP will be lower in the 2024-25 budget, compared to the allocation set in the 2023-24 budget. In most years, government funding in ADP rises.

The government is focusing on utilisation of foreign funds in projects to increase the availability of foreign currency in the market. The foreign currency reserve, now around $20 billion, has been dwindling since 2022.

In the ADP,  the transportation and communication sectors will get the highest allocation -- Tk 70,687 crore (26.67 percent) -- followed by the power and energy sector -- Tk 40,751 crore (15.38 percent).

Education will get 11.10 percent, housing and community facilities 9.38 percent, health 7.80 percent, local government and rural development 6.79 percent, agriculture 4.99 percent, and environment 4.18 percent.

Of education's Tk 31,528 crore, the Primary Education Development Project will get Tk 11,055.97 crore, the highest for a project.

The top 10 projects will get around 20 percent of the ADP allocation. Of them, the government has plans to commission a unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant by March next year.

Under Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Metrorail Line-1), a depot is being developed in the Pitalganj area of Narayanganj. It will have an underground portion from Airport to Kamlapur and an elevated portion from Natun Bazar to Purbachal.

Padma Railway Link project will be done before June 2025.

In the next fiscal year, Dhaka airport extension project, canal development on both sides of Kuril-Purbachal link road, Ashrayan-2 project, Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) project, Purbachal New Town (Yousufganj) Project, and Dhaka-Chattogram main power grid strengthening project will be complete.