The Daily Star reports that a little more than half the funds allocated for the annual budget has been spent in the nine months of the current fiscal year. The reason? The government had lower subsidy and interest payments this fiscal year than was projected.
The Daily Star fails to report the reason why this is important–that apart from this very interesting fact.
There are two ways this news could cut:
1. This frees up government ministries to spend more on welfare increasing policies within each portfolios. There is, as it were, no budget constraint–the economist’s fantasy. But this requires that a set of welfare increasing policies be identified. And more importantly, it requires that such policies be subject to identification. Since neither strong or weak requirement is likely to entail, the possibility of throwing money at a good policy may not be feasible.
2. This news increases the likelihood of corruption on a grand scale. There is money to be had. Quite literally. Since it is more than likely that itemized expenditures fall through the cracks that is the Bangladeshi bureaucracy, a large share of these funds are likely to have been spent out over the next few months. It is likely that the results that we might want will not connect to this spate of increased spending. The scavengers are on the loose and the fresh kill is fragrant.