Chaired by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the meeting also decided to increase the costs of construction projects in the light of price hike of rod.

A minister mentioned the spike in rod prices and said many projects remain stalled even after tendering because of the situation.

The planning ministry told the NEC that the cut in the ADP was necessary due to slow project aid utilisation.

Project aid has been slashed by 17 percent from the original ADP to Tk 7,000 crore.

But foreign aid given in local currency increased 41 percent. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank gave Tk 2,065 crore in local currency as programme support.

The revised ADP contains an internal resource allocation of Tk 9,590 crore or 51 percent of the total outlay while the rest 49 percent comes from foreign assistance.

The original ADP was of Tk 20,300 crore with 49 percent or Tk 10,000 crore coming from internal resources and 51 percent or Tk 10,300 crore from foreign aid.

The revised ADP also shifted 53 projects with Tk 250 crore to revenue budget.

The road transport sector got the highest allocation of 17.83 percent followed by power (16.27 percent), rural development (12.23 percent), education and religion (12.79 percent) and health (10.38 percent).