Revised budget estimation process starts

Dhaka: The ministries and divisions have been directed to submit their respective estimations by this week as the Finance Ministry started its preparation to estimate the revised budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

In the directives, the Finance Division asked the ministries and divisions to limit the number of projects in their revised annual development programme (ADP) and axed the less important projects if necessary. "There’s no scope of including any project that is absent in the main part of the allocation," it said.

About the government's priority projects, the ministries were asked to make the priority in the line with the government's strategic aim and objective.      

The Finance Division advised them to ensure necessary budget allocation for the projects that were taken for the ideal development of an area or a region.

A policy has been prepared for the amendment to the ADP in the current fiscal year. In the policy, it has been stated to keep the number of projects in the amended ADP.

It mentioned that under the same organisation, more than one projects of the same kind have to be done under one project.

The ministries and divisions were also advised to give importance to the sectors related to poverty eradication, human resource development, cyclone and post-flood rehabilitation and foreign aided projects. “The projects that have no allocation must not be placed in the revised ADP.”

As per the directives, the development budget allotted in the main budget for a ministry or an organisation must be placed in the non-development budget even if the allocation remains unspent.

The salary and allowances of employees should be calculated on the basis of the actual spending of the three months of the current fiscal year. "To prepare such kind of estimation, advice from the chief accountant must be taken."

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on June 2 unveiled Tk 340,605 crore national budget for 2016-2017 fiscal year setting the GDP growth target at 7.2 percent and 17.4 percent of the gross domestic product.

Of the total budgetary outlay, Tk 110,700 crore was set aside for development expenditure and Tk 229,900 crore for non-development expenditure.

The budget set an Annual Development Programme with the original outlay of Tk 110,700 crore, an amount which is up by Tk 16,806 crore or 18 percent compared to last fiscal year's revised budget of Tk 93,894 crore.

According to the budget documents, the ADP outlay stands at Tk 123,345.80 crore in the coming fiscal year with an amount of Tk 12,645.80 crore coming from the earnings of the corporations and autonomous organisations.

Some 1,365 projects were included in the ADP of the current fiscal year, including 126 technical assistance projects, 7 projects from the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund, nine from block allocation and 155 projects from the organisations’ own fund.

Meanwhile, ministries and divisions could utilise 19.13 percent of the ADP during the July-November period of the current fiscal year with an overall expenditure of Tk 23,594 crore, according to the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The ADP implementation rate was only 17 percent during the July-November period of the last fiscal year when the expenditure was Tk 17,011 crore.