Project directors asked to fully utilise ADP's foreign fund

With less than two months left, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) has directed project directors to completely utilise the foreign fund allocated for their projects in the revised Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the current fiscal year.

The ministries and divisions managed to spend only 31.49% of the total foreign fund allocations in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, according to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) data.

The ERD officials said that a list of 71 slow-moving foreign-aided projects was also presented at a review meeting on Sunday.

Among the mentioned projects, no foreign loan could be used for the Kewatkhali Bridge project in Mymensingh till April this year. A similar situation exists for several other projects.

On the other hand, only 7.32% of foreign aid has been utilised in the Payra Bridge project.

The ERD and the planning commission offered all kinds of assistance to resolve any problem regarding the projects, including approval delays by development partners.

The instruction came at Sunday's meeting with project directors receiving the highest foreign aid allocation under 10 ministries and divisions.

Secretary of Planning Division Satyajit Karmaker was the chief guest in the meeting, chaired by ERD Secretary Sharifa Khan.

The meeting was called because many projects dependent on foreign loans are not being expedited and there is a fear that the money will not be spent according to the target, ERD officials said.

Moreover, considering the current economic situation, the government wants to increase the disbursement of foreign loans, they said.

A foreign loan of Tk93,000 crore was allocated in the current fiscal year's ADP.

However, in the revised ADP, the allocation was reduced to Tk74,500 crore due to a lack of capacity to use foreign loans.

Project directors have been asked to promptly inform ERD if fund disbursement gets stuck due to development partners.

Necessary action will be taken by consulting the development partner in this regard, the officials said.

One of the project directors, requesting anonymity, said that the implementation of many projects has been stalled due to the complexity of tenders, and delays in approval of development partners.

These problems can be solved to a large extent, the director said.

Besides, due to an increase in the cost of construction materials including rod cement, contractors are moving slowly in many projects.

It is not possible to speed up those projects without compensating the contractors, he added.