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Foreign aid has accumulated to a record high of nearly US$35 billion in the current fiscal for the failure of government agencies to utilise it, at huge public expense. Officials concerned portrayed Friday such a backlog in aid utilisation, which has multiple adverse implications for the economy and public finances as the idle money involves debt-servicing costs. Until the last financial year (FY), 2015-16, the total unused confirmed foreign assistance in the pipeline had amounted to $21.95 billion. "Since the government agencies have failed to use the available and confirmed external resources due to their inefficiencies, the external assistance is ballooning in the pipeline," a senior Economic Relations Division (ERD) official said. ERD data show the foreign assistance in the pipeline swelled by 58.95 per cent or $12.94 billion at the end of the first half (July-December) of the current FY2017 from $21.95 billion in unused aid as of the previous fiscal. The aid in the pipeline in the previous FY2016 had increased by 17.44 per cent to $21.95 billion from $18.69 billion in the previous FY2015 while it was recorded $18.17 billion in FY2014, the ERD statistics showed. Although the government has made different moves over the last few years, it is not working owing to the inefficiencies of the implementing agencies in execution of the foreign-aided projects, said a top ERD official. A committee led by Finance Minister AMA Muhith and a Cabinet Secretary-led taskforce have been working for more than a year to expedite the pace of foreign-aid utilisation. Development analysts think inefficiencies of the government authorities and inadequate transparency in project implementation are affecting aid disbursement and inflating the pipeline aid year on year. Bangladesh's development partners like the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan, China, and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) usually provide loans and grants for different development works. They make the commitment of project aid through signing deals and the funds are disbursed later based on the spending of the assistance against project works. ERD statistics showed the government ministries and agencies utilised only $1.32 billion worth of external aid from the available $14.26 billion committed by the multilateral and bilateral donors in Jul-Dec period of the current FY2017. According to the ERD, the aid commitment was much higher ($14.26 billion) in the current fiscal as the government signed a single-largest aid deal with the Russian government for getting $13.38 billion state credit for Rooppur nuclear power plant. In FY2016, the government received a total of $3.45 billion in foreign assistance (concessional loans and grants) against the commitments worth $7.0 billion. ERD Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam told the FE that since they confirmed a single-largest $13.38 billion worth of aid from Russia early this fiscal, the assistance in the pipeline had swelled significantly. "Actually our year-on-year aid utilisation is not bad. If you look over the last few years, you will notice utilisation growth was over 15 per cent," he said. The government is trying to enhance the capacity of the project-executing agencies so that they could use the unutilised aid in the pipeline properly and timely, Mr Azam added. Development analyst Dr Zaid Bakht said: "Due to the inefficiencies of the government agencies and sometimes tougher fund-release procedures of the development partners slow down the implementation of the project. So the aid disbursement is affected." He finds the separate procurement guidelines of the donors and the government as one of the major reasons behind delays in project utilisation that cause the aid pipeline to get clogged. "The steep rise in foreign aid in the pipeline is inflating the project cost due to the delays in execution, making Bangladesh's aid-utilisation capacity vulnerable, rendering the exchange rate insecure, and dwindling outcome of the development projects." Besides, the government is required to pay commitment fees to the lenders for the undisbursed yet committed aid money annually. The rates vary from donor to donor.   The analyst suggested that a high-powered government committee should be formed to supervise the foreign-aided projects and coordinate time-to-time with the development partners to circumvent the hurdles. Additional Secretary of the ERD Farida Nasreen said the cabinet secretary-led taskforce had made some recommendations for expediting the aid utilisation. The recommendations are expected to be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs of the government soon, she told the FE. She said lengthy Development Project Proposal (DPP) preparation, approval, slow procurement and implementations at a snail's pace eat up much time, which causes the swelling of the unused assistance.  "There is no alternative to reinforcing the bilateral ties between the government and the donors for quick disbursement of foreign aid," the official added. Meanwhile, government's foreign-aid mobiliser -- ERD -- severely criticised the project implementers, saying that slow implementation of project results in slow disbursement of aid. The ultimate outcome is time-and cost-overruns. It impacts negatively on the balance of payments (BoP), leading to increased borrowing from domestic sources, the ERD in its analysis stated in its aid- flow book. The ERD said: "Projects are often designed without proper planning of feasibility studies. Also people engaged in the project preparation are not properly trained." ERD in a recent meeting of the Local Consultative Group (LCG) in Dhaka urged the donors to work out way for easing their project-approval process and bid documents to avoid the complexities in execution of the donor-funded schemes. A senior Planning Commission official said bottlenecks in procurement, contradictions in procurement guidelines of the government and donors and complex approval procedures followed by the donors before fund disbursement are the major reasons for the fattening of foreign assistance in the pipeline.  "If the procurement complexities are over, most of the projects will be implemented in time and the committed foreign aid will be disbursed fast," the official told the FE.     kabirhumayan10@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06

Bus owners and workers called off their strike on all routes of three southern districts-- Patuakhali, Barguna and Barisal --after two days as they had a fruitful meeting with the local administration on Friday night. Golam Mostafa Kislu, president of Barguna Bus Owners' Association, said they decided to withdraw the strike after a meeting with the local administration around 9.30pm that assured them of meeting their demand, reports UNB. Deputy Commissioner Dr. Mohammad Bashirul Alam and Superintendent of Police Bijoy Sarker were present at the meeting. Earlier on Thursday, bus owners and workers went on an indefinite strike in the three southern districts demanding an end to plying of three wheelers on highways and withdrawal of fake cases against transport workers. On February 13, police filed a case against 17 transport workers in connection with a clash between bus workers and three-wheeler drivers at Amtoli in Barguna district town. On February 13, the bus owners and drivers of the three districts in a press conference demanded withdrawal of the case and an end to plying of three wheelers on the highways. Following the incident, Patuakhali, Barguna, Barisal Bus-minibus Owners Samonnoy Parishad enforced the strike.     ....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06

US President Donald Trump's nominee has been sworn in to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Scott Pruitt, a fierce critic of the agency, was approved by the Republican-controlled Senate despite Democratic attempts to delay the confirmation. A judge in Oklahoma on Thursday ordered him to release, by Tuesday, emails he exchanged with oil and gas executives. Democrats boycotted an earlier vote over his email refusal and claimed he was too close to energy companies. They held the Senate floor through the night to put pressure on the chamber to delay the confirmation vote until the emails, which were exchanged while he was Oklahoma attorney general, were handed over. But the Senate voted in favour of his confirmation by 52 to 46, and he was sworn in on Friday. Mr Pruitt, 48, had refused to hand over the emails, at the request of a liberal watchdog, for more than two years. Mr Pruitt is perhaps the most controversial appointment in the history of the EPA - the Oklahoma attorney general has spent years fighting the role and reach of the organisation he now heads. Hundreds of former EPA staff members wrote an open letter against his appointment, some calling him an "unqualified extremist". Environmental campaigners see him as an oil and gas industry stooge who is "lukewarm" on the threat posed by climate change - they fear that hard-won environmental regulations will be overturned. Key among them is the 2009 ruling that greenhouse gas emissions endanger both the environment and public health. This underpinned many of the actions taken by President Obama to curb CO2. With Mr Pruitt in place, it's likely that President Trump will rapidly push ahead with orders to overturn Obama's Clean Power Plan and his "Waters of the US" rule, something conservatives also see as an over-extension of federal power. Mr Pruitt will probably attempt to cut through the "regulatory rampage" that Republicans believe the EPA has embarked on over the past eight years - but he needs to be wary of over-reach. President Reagan appointed Anne Gorsuch Burford to reform the EPA back in 1981 - but after failed attempts to downsize, she was out on her ear two years later. Republicans predicted Mr Pruitt would reset the agency's goals. "I have no doubt the Scott will return the EPA to its core objectives," said Oklahoma Sen James Inhofe, accusing the agency of "federal overreach, unlawful rule making and duplicative red tape". "EPA has made life hard for families all across America," said Wyoming Sen John Barrasso, adding that Mr Pruitt would "bring much needed change". Environmental groups said they feared he would loosen regulations on energy companies. During his confirmation hearing he had said he disagreed with Mr Trump saying climate change was a hoax but he previously cast doubt on the overwhelming evidence that changes in the earth's temperature were down to humans. "Scott Pruitt is the worst pick ever confirmed to lead the EPA," said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We'll use every tool in the kit to stop him from harming our air and water, endangering our communities and surrendering our kids to climate catastrophe." Mr Pruitt's confirmation means that President Trump has filled 14 of his 22 cabinet posts. He has blamed Democratic obstructionism for not filling more of his key jobs by now.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06

Police arrested four Shibir leaders and activists, including its Sylhet district former president, from different areas of Sadar upazila in Sunamganj district on Friday night. The arrestees were identified as Mahmudur Rahman Delwar, 35, former president of Sylhet district unit of Shibir and son of Abdur Rauf, a resident of Buristhal village, Jasim Miah, son of late Fazar Ali of Kamarvita, Jubel Ahmad, son of late Barik Miah of Jamtala and Ruhul Amin, son of Alkas Ali of Tegharia in Sadar upazila of Sunamganj, reports UNB. Tipped off, a team of police conducted the separate drives in different areas of the upazila and arrested the four around 10.00pm, said Harunur Rashid Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Sunamganj Sadar Model Police Station. Of the arrestees, Delwar was wanted in 40 cases, including of sabotage, the OC added.....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06

At least 20 students of a school were injured as a picnic bus plunged into a roadside ditch in Phulpur upazila headquarters of Mymensingh district on Friday night. Witnesses said the bus carrying the students of Jhinaigati Pilot High School of Sherpur fell into the ditch when its driver lost control over the steering while returning from Sonargaon in Narayanganj on completion of their excursion, leaving 20 students injured. The injured students were admitted to Phulpur upazila health complex from where one of them was shifted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, said Harun-or-Rashid, teacher of the school.....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06