Implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) reached only 48.23 percent during the first 11 months (July–May) of FY 2025–26, marking the lowest level for the corresponding period in the past 16 years. In May alone, the implementation rate stood at just 6.82 percent. Despite substantial budget allocations, key ministries, including Health, Environment and Commerce, have significantly lagged in project execution. The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under the planning ministry revealed the information in the latest report published on Thursday.
The ADP initially allocated around BDT 2.08 trillion for the implementation of 1,359 development projects in the current fiscal year, according to IMED data. The revised development budget later reduced the allocation to BDT 2 trillion. Despite increasing development allocations each year, the ADP implementation rate has been declining consistently over the past several years. During the July–May period of the current fiscal year, total expenditure amounted to nearly BDT 1 trillion. Both in terms of expenditure and implementation rate, this is the lowest performance recorded during the corresponding period over the past six fiscal years. Measured solely by implementation rate, it is the weakest performance in 16 years. Traditionally, ADP implementation during this period averages between 65 and 70 percent annually. This year, however, it fell below the 50 percent mark. By comparison, the implementation rate stood at 49.08 percent during July–May of FY 2024–25, 57.54 percent in FY 2023–24, 61.73 percent in FY 2022–23, and 64.84 percent in FY 2021–22.
The ministries with the weakest ADP implementation performance this fiscal year are the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Within the health sector, the Health Services Division and the Health Education and Family Welfare Division achieved implementation rates of 25.89 percent and 22.50 percent, respectively. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change implemented 20.45 percent of its allocation, the Ministry of Commerce 17.87 percent, and the Internal Resources Division 12.23 percent. In contrast, the Ministry of Science and Technology recorded the highest implementation rate. The ministry, which is responsible for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project, achieved 83.33 percent implementation during the first 11 months of the fiscal year. It was followed by the Cabinet Division with 82.53 percent, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division with 79.48 percent, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock with 72.50 percent, and the Ministry of Food with 68.41 percent.
Despite the substantial allocations, IMED officials and economists attribute the poor utilisation of development funds primarily to inadequate implementation capacity among government officials. Speaking to Bonik Barta on condition of anonymity, a senior IMED official said, “The main obstacle to project implementation in Bangladesh is the negligence and lack of commitment of officials. Every month, we issue an alert highlighting the implementation status of each ministry. We identify issues such as complications in land acquisition, delays in appointing project directors, weak coordination between ministries and implementing agencies, and bureaucratic bottlenecks. Even after these issues are flagged, implementation continues to lag because of inadequate oversight. This problem has been worsening consistently over the past several years.”
Economist Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), believes three key factors are responsible for the weak pace of project implementation, in addition to institutional capacity constraints. He told Bonik Barta, “The first reason for this year’s slow implementation is that the interim government has downsized the ADP and withheld funding for many projects. Second, there have been difficulties in releasing foreign loans and development assistance, while external aid has also declined. Foreign assistance fell by 25 percent last year and is expected to decline further this year. Beyond that, our longstanding capacity constraints remain.”
Zonayed Saki said the government is working to improve project implementation in the future. Speaking to journalists at his office recently, he said, “From now on, greater emphasis is being placed on the returns generated by public investment — what income a project will produce, what funds will be recovered, and what the return on investment will be. We’re also trying to identify recurring problems such as repeated cost escalations, budget increases, and implementation delays.”