Bangladesh receives Tk 10,552 crore WB loan

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on Saturday approved two projects totaling $900 million (Tk 10,552 crore) to help Bangladesh strengthen fiscal and financial sector policies and improve urban infrastructure and management to ensure sustainable and climate-resilient growth.

“Decisive reforms will help Bangladesh sustain growth and strengthen resilience to climate change and other shocks,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. 

“These new financing operations will help Bangladesh in two critical areas - the financial sector and urban management - to achieve its vision of upper middle-income status.”

The Second Recovery and Resilience Development Policy Credit ($500 million)-the last in a series of two credits-supports fiscal and financial sector reforms to accelerate sustainable growth and build resilience to future shocks, including climate change, said a press release received on Saturday. 

The programme supports the transition from trade taxes to consumption and income taxes, which will help Bangladesh strengthen competitiveness and prepare for LDC graduation.

It will help institutionalize the public procurement authority responsible for the electronic government procurement (e-GP system), which will cut down the average e-GP procurement lead time from 70 days to 55 days. It supports stronger banking sector oversight and improved management of National Savings Certificates. 

It will also help improve the efficiency and targeting of cash-based social protection programs and scale up public and private climate adaptation and mitigation investments.