Revised budget estimation process for FY17 starts

The ministries and divisions were directed to submit their respective estimations by this week as the finance ministry started its preparation to estimate the revised budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. In the directives, the Finance Division asked the ministries and divisions to limit the number of projects in their revised annual development programme (ADP) and axed the less important projects if necessary. “There’s no scope of including any project that is absent in the main part of the allocation. The ministries and divisions were also advised to give importance to the sectors related to poverty eradication, human resource development, cyclone and post-flood rehabilitation and foreign aided projects. “The projects that have no allocation must not be placed in the revised ADP.” Finance Minister on June 2 unveiled Tk 3.406 trillion national budget for 2016-2017 fiscal year setting the GDP growth target at 7.2 per cent and 17.4 per cent of the gross domestic product. Of the total budgetary outlay, Tk 1.107 trillion was set aside for development expenditure and Tk 2.299 trillion for non-development expenditure. The budget set an Annual Development Programme with the original outlay of Tk 1.107 trillion, an amount which is up by Tk 168.06 billion or 18 per cent compared to last fiscal year’s revised budget of Tk 938.94 billion. According to the budget documents, the ADP outlay stands at Tk 1.233 trillion in the coming fiscal year with an amount of Tk 126.458 billion coming from the earnings of the corporations and autonomous organisations. Meanwhile, ministries and divisions could utilise 19.13 per cent of the ADP during the July-November period of the current fiscal year with an overall expenditure of Tk 235.94 billion, according to the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED). The ADP implementation rate was only 17 percent during the July-November period of the last fiscal year when the expenditure was Tk 170.11 billion.

Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/01/03/58127/Revised-budget-estimation-process-for-FY17-starts

Foreign aid disbursement drops in July-November

Foreign aid disbursement to Bangladesh dropped 10 per cent to US$903.18 million in July-November period of the current fiscal year, officials said, though commitment hit a new high. An unwarranted setback in the execution of Japanese-aided projects following the deadly militant attack on a café in Gulshan diplomatic zone that left 18 foreigners, including seven Japanese nationals, among a total of 28 people dead. In the same period last financial year (FY), 2015-16, the foreign development partners had disbursed $1.0 billion in concessional loans and grants for bankrolling the country’s development recipe. The commitment of foreign assistance was, however, jumped to US$13.42 billion in the first five months of the current FY2017 from $972.25 million in the same period last FY. According to ERD calculations, the government received of total of $903.18 million in loans and grants in the July-November period. Out of the money, $806.66 million was received as loans while $96.52 million as grants from different bilateral and multilateral development partners. Besides, the donors confirmed $13.42 billion worth of assistance in the first five months of the current FY, $12.78 billion as loans while the rest $63.78 million as grants. Meanwhile, the ERD data showed Monday, the government repaid $406 million in interest and principal for its total debt during the period under review. Out of the repayment amount, $318.66 million was principal while $87.82 million interest. In the same period last FY, some $435.53 million worth of interest and principal of the outstanding loans was paid out, the statistics show. The government received a total of $3.45 billion in foreign assistance (concessional loans and grants) in the last FY.

Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/01/03/58087/Foreign-aid-disbursement-drops

Abdul Monem gets final licence for economic zone

Abdul Monem Economic Zone or AMEZ, an entity of Abdul Monem Ltd, received the final licence from the authority yesterday. With the licence, AMEZ will now allocate industrial plots to investors who want to set up factories in the economic zone. AMEZ is the second economic zone in the private sector that obtained the final nod from Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority or Beza. Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of Beza, handed over the licence to ASM Mainuddin Monem, managing director of AMEZ, at a function in Dhaka. Many local entrepreneurs as well as foreign investors from countries like China, Japan and Hong Kong have expressed their intention to invest in the economic zone, he said, adding that the economic zones will help the government achieve its Vision 2041. AMEZ will create job opportunities for around 1 lakh people. AMEZ completed the environmental impact assessment and feasibility study and prepared a master plan on the economic zone as per the conditions of a prequalification licence, which it received in March 2015. The zone is situated on 216 acres of land at Gazaria in Munshiganj, very close to the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and Meghna Ghat river port. However, the final licence was for 142 acres, and another licence will be awarded later for the rest of the land.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/abdul-monem-gets-final-licence-economic-zone-1339849

A Tk 159cr project to make Bangla computing-friendly

The government is set to develop software to make Bangla friendlier for computing purposes. The Tk 159.02 crore project, which will be funded with the government’s own resources, will help create 16 software tools and organise training and workshops to build a strong workforce. The software will translate all voice and text contents from English to Bangla and vice versa and convert text to voice for the visually-impaired people. BCC will implement the project by June 2019. However, it will take five to six year to get well-equipped Bangla language computing tools. The project aims to standardise Bangla as an ICT-friendly language and develop tools, technology and content for Bangla computing, according to the planning ministry proposal. The software tools, which will incorporate all the Bangla dialects, will also allow the visually impaired to read and write in the language. The project received the approval from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council yesterday.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/tk-159cr-project-make-bangla-computing-friendly-1339846

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