Bank seeks hike in threshold for line ministry approval of procurement and recruitment

DHAKA, Sept 24: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) wants the threshold for line ministry (LM) approvals of procurement and recruitment to be increased,

and only larger packages to be sent for approval to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchases. The aim of this move is to reduce delays in the process. Similarly

it also wants packages to be delegated in greater numbers to levels lower than that of LM. The ADB raised this at the summary of the Bangladesh tripartite portfolio review meeting (TPRM), held on September 1, sources at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said.

According to the summary, addressing project issues in a timely and proactive manner would minimise delays in the delivery of project outcomes, and positively affect the performance-based allocation of ADF funds. 

It is critical to step up efforts to ensure full achievement target of projections and to minimize the number of projects in the red and amber categories, the ADB added.

Meanwhile, the ADB has identified 24 projects with issues that require action.

The quality of approved detailed project plans (DPPs) or/and technical project plans (TPPs) is often low as approved budgets, especially for land acquisition, are often insufficient, it said.

According to the ERD, the ADB should provide more support in preparing high-quality DPPs or TPPs at the project preparation stage and its processing missions should hold meetings with relevant Planning Commission members and staff from the start of project preparations during all missions.

The Manila-based lender also suggested that compliance with the financial agreements and associated monitoring and reporting need to be improved. 

“Monitorable time-bound actions were agreed to improve project implementation to achieve development targets,” said ADB country director M. Teresa Kho. “The TPRM exercises have already helped improved project implementation,

but we will continue to work with the government to further unlock aid flows.”

Actions agreed at the TPRM include addressing the root causes of project start-up delays, accelerating procurement actions by ensuring the quality of bid documents, reducing time for completing high-quality evaluation reports, and processing fund disbursements quickly and in a timely manner.

The TPRM also discussed early preparation and approval of development project proposals (DPPs), raising capacity for DPP preparation and procurement, and strict adherence to project readiness filters before loan approvals.
ADB assistance to Bangladesh currently amounts to over USD 900 million a year. As one of the lead

development partners in energy, water supply and sanitation, agriculture and natural resources, education, and transport sectors, the ADB’s cumulative lending to Bangladesh amounts to USD 14.1 billion for 234

loans, while the technical assistance grants for 425 projects stood at USD 230.80 million until August 2013. 
The ADB portfolio for Bangladesh currently includes 55 loans and 17 grant projects amounting to USD 5.20 billion.