Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given instructions to the concerned authorities to put extra effort into completing the projects being built with foreign loans quickly.
The directives came following the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by PM Hasina and organised to give final approval to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next financial year on Thursday (17 May), Planning Minister Abdus Salam told media during a press briefing following the meeting.
PM Hasina also directed to send progress reports every three months to speed up the work of such projects, he added.
He said instead of taking small development projects based on small areas, the meeting decided to take big projects on the district level under a master plan.
"Monitoring and evaluation becomes difficult if upazila-based small projects are taken. The prime minister instructed in the meeting to ensure a feasibility study before taking up the project," he added.
"ADP of Tk2.65 thousand crores was approved for the next financial year. Out of this, 1.65 lakh crore rupees will come from the government's own funds and Tk1 lakh crore will come from foreign aids and loans," Planning Secretary Satyajit Karmakar said speaking at the briefing.
The secretary said after Bangladesh's LDC graduation, the facility of foreign loans on flexible terms will decrease.
Before this, it was possible to advance the economy by ensuring the maximum use of foreign aid, he added.
"Due to lack of capacity, only 70% of the money allocated to ADP is being used. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged to increase this rate," the government official said.
The secretary also said that the premier has directed to ensure maximum utilisation of the training taken by the officers under the development projects.
