Bangladesh borrows total $22 billion from ADB

The government of Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday jointly reviewed ADB-assisted projects of Bangladesh to further improve development results.

As of 31 August 2018, ADB's cumulative lending to Bangladesh stood at around $22 billion for 284 loans, $263 million for 435 technical assistance projects, and $922 million for 41 grants, reports UNB.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.  Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash co-chaired the Tripartite Portfolio Review Meeting (TPRM) in the city.

The TPRM discussed the status of overall portfolio and prioritized actions to achieve targets. The government project executing agencies were briefed about and encouraged to use the new procurement policy approved in 2017.

 
Over 190 senior government officials, project directors, and ADB staff participated in the second such review meeting in 2018. "The review is intended to deliver development results faster to people by accelerating project implementation through early identification and quick resolution of project implementation issues," said Country Director Manmohan Parkash.

"We're encouraged by the higher contract awards and disbursements, and look forward to achieving a record performance in 2018. The performance is even more impressive, given that ADB portfolio in Bangladesh has increased by 17 percent during January-August 2018 over the same period in 2017," Parkash added.

ADB has currently 94 loans and grants for 55 projects with over $9.5 billion under sovereign portfolio. During January-August 2018, ADB approved and committed loans for Bangladesh are over $1.6 billion.  Contract awards are higher by 123 percent with around $1 billion, and disbursements are higher by 46 percent with $586 million, compared to the same period in 2017, said the ADB.

More projects worth over $600 million are proposed to be approved before the end of the year, thus the total approvals are likely to exceed $2 billion in 2018.

ADB focuses its cooperation in Bangladesh on six sectors - energy; transport; water and urban/municipal infrastructure and services; education; finance; and agriculture, natural resources, and rural development.