The government has spent almost half the allocation of the budget’s emergency expenditure fund for the purposes not allowed by the law.
The fund has been used to purchase vehicles, pay allowances, in nuclear power plant and pay salaries and allowances to police and Ansar-VDP members.
But according to the Public Money and Budget Management Act 2009, the funds cannot be diverted to sectors which are not specified during the allocation.
Besides, the total allocation of Tk1,299 crore has been completely consumed in less than five months of the current fiscal year, prompting the government make a new block allocation of Tk110 crore in the revised budget, said official sources.
The sources said during political unrest the government had to meet additional expenditure on policing and used a chunk of the emergency fund.
The law states that the fund can only be used to meet emergency expenditures like during natural disasters, providing agricultural subsidy and policy change by the government.
Due to the use of the fund in the non-specified sectors, the money ran out so rapidly that finance minister even failed to get money to lease Mongla port land for establishing a special economic zone.
However, the emergency fund was not also intended to be used for such leasing of land. All the fund has been almost used and there was no enough money to give for land leasing, said Finance Secretary Fazle Kabir, in a reply to Finance Minister AMA Muhith’s letter directing to provide money.
Of the money disbursed, an amount of Tk246 crore was spent in the first-phase works of Rooppur nuclear power plant and Tk240 crore for giving government allowances, said official sources.
Besides, Tk680 crore was used to provide agricultural subsidy and Tk10 lakh was given to Dhaka School of Economics.
Besides, the government disbursed Tk50 crore for construction of Sylhet International Cricket Stadium from the emergency management fund, Tk25 lakh to observe National Mourning Day on 15 August and Tk10 lakh given to
Bangabandhu Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development Academy.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, however, defended the fund use and said the money was used to meet necessary expenditures.
“The block allocation is for necessary use and we have used the fund for that kind of purpose,” finance minister told the Dhaka Tribune when asked why the fund was used in the non-specified sectors.
A small amount has been allocated in the revised budget for the purpose, he said referring to new allocation, adding that the block allocation in the budget is less than one per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.
Shamsul Alam, member of the General Economics Division of the Planning Ministry, played a similar music and the money was used for public good.
“This will be good for Bangladesh economy,” he believed.
But Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance adviser to last caretaker government, slammed the practice of using emergency fund on non-specified sectors terming it as “mismanagement and abnormality.”
