MD ASADUZ ZAMAN

The government’s development expenditure has fallen to its lowest level in at least five years in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26).

Ministries and divisions spent only Tk 75,607 crore in the first nine months, just 36.19 percent of the total allocation under the Annual Development Programme (ADP), according to data released by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) yesterday.

While broadly similar to the same period last year, the figure is significantly below the five-year average. In FY22, nine-month implementation stood at 45 percent, the highest in recent years.

The drop, both in terms of amount and execution rate, comes amid economic uncertainty and political transition midway through the fiscal year.

The situation is particularly acute in the health sector, which implemented only 21.6 percent of the July-March target, despite growing concerns about healthcare accessibility.

With only three months remaining, analysts say Bangladesh is likely to record another year of very low development budget implementation. This will likely impact revenue collection by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), which collects advance income tax and VAT from implementing authorities.

It may, however, help contain the budget deficit and limit government borrowing from the banking sector.

Development spending hit a historic low in FY25, with only 68 percent of the revised ADP implemented, the weakest performance since FY1976-77.

Execution this year may fall to around 60 percent, said Mohammad Lutfor Rahman, a professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University. Implementation rates typically rise in the fourth quarter, but the gains may not be enough to close the gap.