AFD eager to expand support to Bangladesh

Asian Development Bank declared that it was prepared to provide Bangladesh its full support in overcoming both short-term and long-term obstacles on the way to becoming an upper-middle-income nation by 2031.

In order to promote skill development, health, ICT-based entrepreneurship, high-quality infrastructure, and climate change mitigation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for a flexible mode of financing and innovative financing solutions from ADB. ADB has boosted its aid to Bangladesh by around three times during the past ten years.

Bangladesh has received $28.38 billion from ADB thus far, making it the third-largest borrower in the lender’s portfolio. Up to 50 projects are being carried out with the financial and technical support of ADB. The lender gave Bangladesh $2.29 billion to help with the effects of the global coronavirus outbreak. In addition, it gave $230 million in emergency aid to help Bangladesh’s northwest recover from devastating floods.

Source for more details:

The Daily Star

Unutilized foreign aid accumulates in the pipeline year after year as Bangladesh’s public-sector project execution capacity falls short of higher fund release. The foreign-aid disbursement for FY2022 was 21.79 percent of the pipeline-opening balance, according to ERD calculations. As a comparison to the previous fiscal year, the distribution percentage increased by 5.5 percent in FY 2020-21.

According to a newly published Economic Relations Division (ERD) report, confirmed development assistance increased to US$50.35 billion as of the last fiscal year (FY), 2021-22. The unutilized funds in the inflow channel were $1.71 billion less than the previous fiscal year, at $48.82 billion

.It’s worth noting that the government has been cutting project aid (foreign aid) in the modified budget every year. It never holds project leaders or government entities accountable for failing to utilize confirmed assistance. If the government does not hold those individuals accountable or assure a reward or punishment for foreign aid utilization, the pipeline size will approach $100 billion within the next few years.

Source for more details:

The Financial Express

Foreign aid for the national budget has decreased from US$ 3.26 billion in the previous fiscal year to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year (2021-22). AHM Mustafa Kamal, the minister of finance, presented these figures to the parliament. According to him, the government got funding for the budget in the prior fiscal year totaling US$3.2 billion from various development partners, but an additional US$2.23 billion in funding may be available. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been working to achieve 100 percent of the revenue collection target by the end of the fiscal year.

Sources for more details:

The Business Standard 

UNB 

Daily Observer

Foreign aid inflow has decreased as Bangladesh received 10-percent less aid in the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year, when it was needed to restock reserves, according to officials. According to official statistics, during the first six months of the fiscal year (FY) 2022–23, aid commitment more than halved, while release also fell significantly. The international aid flow was impacted both internally and externally by government austerity measures and tight monetary policy brought on by the global economic crisis. As a result, from July to December, the country received $396 million in funding.

Significant bilateral development partners of the nation, such as China, India, and Russia, stand out by making no commitments to provide foreign aid over the time period under study. Between July and December, Pakistan received $921.61 million in loans from Japan, China, Russia, and other ADB clients, while the government repaid its MLT loans with $1.05 billion in interest and principal. The government had paid back nearly $2.5 billion in unpaid debts during the same time period the previous year.

Source for more details:   

Financial Express