Both the finance and planning ministries will get down to monitoring the development budget from the first month of fiscal 2016-17 after disappointing implementation this year.

In the first ten months of the fiscal year, the implementation of the annual development programme has been the lowest in five years.

Between July last year and April this year, Tk 45,163 crore was utilised, which is about 50 percent of the revised allocation of Tk 91,000 crore for fiscal 2015-16, according to the Implementation Monitoringand Evaluation Division.

The original ADP allocation for this year was Tk 97,000 crore, but it was revised down for the lack of ability to implement it.

"The political situation is calm and things are looking good on the economic front. And yet, the implementation status is not good," Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters yesterday after a meeting on the status of development projects in his constituency in Sylhet.

It seems there is slackness in the implementing authority, he said, adding that Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal himself is concerned over the final implementation status of this year's development projects given the slow pace thus far.

“He has made much efforts but the performance is not very good," Muhith said.

Every year the ministries are seen to intensify their spending in the last two months after doing not much for the rest of the year.

"If so much spending takes place at the end of a fiscal year, some money is wasted -- attention cannot be given properly."

Considering this, the government plans to digitise the project monitoring system to ensure timely implementation as well as quality in project spending, Muhith said in

his budget speech for fiscal 2016-17.

The digitisation, which is now at the final stage, will ensure close monitoring of project activities and instant retrieval of updated data on ongoing projects, which, in turn, will enable officials to observe the latest project status at the end of a week and give directives accordingly.

Muhith said the government will also put in practice a result-based monitoring and evaluation system from the next fiscal year. Importance will be placed on weighing the extent of targets and quality achieved against the level of resources utilised.

A pool of project directors will be put in place within next fiscal year.

MUHITH ABOUT NEXT ELECTION

Muhith also said he will not participate in the next election, with his younger brother AK Abdul Momen most likely to take his berth.

"Momen is preparing the ground for contesting in the next general elections."

It has to be seen what his acceptability is and what his standing is in the party. On the basis of that, the party will take the decision, Muhith said.