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Foreign aid spending loses steam

Political unrest stalls disbursement at 39pc of target

Rejaul Karim Byron
The government spent only 3 9 percent of foreign aid in the first six months of the current fiscal year. It now plans to lower the disbursement target in the revised budget.
Aid commitments also decreased by T7 percent in the first half compared to the same period a year ago. Development partners pledged $1.54 billion in aid in the first six months, down from $2.11 billion in the same period last year.
Disbursement was $1.3 billion in July-December this fiscal year, which was almost the same last year, according to data from the Economic Relations Division. The target of disbursement was $3.37 billion in the current fiscal year.
As disbursement is directly related with the implementation of projects, the amount did not increase much as political unrest delayed many projects, an ERD official said.
The target will not be achieved, even if
implementation speeds up in the second half of the fiscal year, the official added.
Foreign aid disbursement was $2.79 billion last fiscal year, which the ERD official said was the highest in the history of Bangladesh.
As the government has doubt whether the disbursement will be more this year, the target may be brought down by $400 million or $500 million, he said.
The disbursement in the first six months included $598 million from World Bank, $332 million from Asian Development Bank, $215 million from Japan, $76 million from China and $66 million from India.
The government had expected $6 billion in aid commitments from development partners for the current fiscal year.
The ERD official said there was no link between the 10th parliamentary election and a fall in the amount of commitment.
He said they have not yet received any indication of cuts in assistance by any development partner. Talks are going on with the development partners for financing around $8 billion in different development projects, the official said.
The amount of commitment forforeign assistance will increase further once the government starts signing deals with development partners on various projects, he said.
The WB, which is the largest development partner of Bangladesh, has hinted that it would make a commitment for $1.7 billion this fiscal year. The WB board has approved 64
percent of the amount or $1.1 billion till January.
The approved projects are: $125 million for higher education quality enhancement project, $265 million for secondary education quality and access enhancement project, $140 million for emergency cyclone recovery and reconstruction project, $210 million for modern food storage, and $410 million for municipality governance project.
Due to a rise in commitment and a slow pace in disbursement, the unutilised fund in the pipeline has been
increasing every year; the total amount stood at around $16 billion at the end of December last year.
Problems were identified and various steps were taken in the last several years to speed up foreign aid disbursement, the ERD official said.
As a result, the disbursement rose significantly last year, he added.
The government has also formed two separate committees to review the existing rules and procedures for land acquisition and ease project documentation, which is expected to help expedite