Agency: With growing controversy surrounding the ongoing Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP), the ESP Steering Committee has decided to strengthen and enhance monitoring of the various ESP programs including the Concessional Credit Line.
A senior official said that the ESP Steering Committee used to meet once a week earlier where decisions on the implementation of the ESP had to be taken, and recently the proposal was to reduce the frequency to once a month or even fortnightly as most decisions had been taken.
The Committee is proposing to meet once a week with the main aim of monitoring the ESP projects, and especially the ESP loans. The official said this plan was there before the controversy too.
The Committee will want weekly updates from the various agencies that are implementing the different ESP programs.
In the case of the Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL) and the ESP loans, the bank will be required to provide updates on the progress of each ESP loan. BDBL must present data on all loans, showing not only the disbursements but also field verification findings on how the loans are being used and the impact they are having.
Indicators such as loan repayment, jobs creation, import substitution, new production and export enhancement resulting from the ESP will also be reviewed.
It will also have to let the Committee know if there are any issues or actions are being taken against defaulters or those who misuse any loans.
The Committee which only had a skeletal ESP Secretariat staff until now will be recruiting more staff with the main aim of monitoring. The ESP Secretariat will be actively involved in doing its own monitoring of the ESP programs and the loans, and if it comes across any issues then action will be taken.
If, for example, BDBL misses out something and the Secretariat catches something major then even the BDBL can be held liable.
The Committee plans to release its first ESP report by the end of November 2025 and it will keep issuing these reports to update the public.