No more block allocation in next budget
November 18, 2008
The military-backed interim government has decided not to keep any block allocations in the next budget with a view to trim down corruption and inefficiency in utilisation of these funds. It was informed by the finance ministry in a recent circular to all other ministries asking for their estimated resource ceilings for the next three years under the mid-term budgetary framework.
‘The ministries are spending block allocations recklessly in absence of rigorous conditions,’ alleged a senior official of the finance ministry.
The finance ministry has told the other ministries that they must specify the programmes for which block are required as well as their initiatives for raise the level of efficiency in utilisation of those funds, adding that otherwise they will get no block allocation in the next budget.
According to the government data, in the first quarter of this fiscal year, it has spent from the unexpected expenditure management fund, or block allocation, at a much higher rate than that of spending under the Annual Development Programme.
Of the Tk 26,500-crore ADP for 2008-09, only 2,388 crore or 9 per cent was utilised in the July-September period, up from 7 per cent in the same quarter of the last fiscal year. About Tk 23,461 crore of the total development outlay for fiscal year 2009 was earmarked for procurement but only Tk 1524.96 crore was spent in the July–September period, indicating a snail pace of development work. In contrast, Tk 134.78 crore of the Tk 800-crore unexpected expenditure fund has already been spent, official figures showed.
However, the government has not spent any money from the block allocation made as a special assistance for agriculture in the July-September period.
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Economic Association, has appreciated the interim government’s decision not to set aside any block allocation against the three-year MTBF estimations of the ministries.
‘The government should put only Tk 200 crore as block allocation in the next year’s budget,’ he added.
Qazi Kholiquzzaman also suggested that the government should keep aside an unexpected expenditure fund of Tk 1,000 crore in the next budget to cover the management costs of crises and calamities like cyclone, flood etc.
Atiur Rahman, another renowned economist, however, said block allocations might be used for political purposes.
The government kept aside about Tk 7,395 crore as block allocations in the budget for FY07, more than Tk 1,000 crore in FY08 and an estimated Tk 900 crore plus in this fiscal year’s budget.
Source: New Age
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