The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a five billion US dollar aid plan for Bangladesh over the next five years. At the same time, the organization has also announced to increase the annual loan assistance in Bangladesh by about 20 percent.
ADB President Masato Kanda highlighted these issues in a meeting with Prime Minister Tariq Rahman on Monday morning. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister ABM Abdus Sattar were present during the meeting.
In this regard, it is said in a notification of ADB, during the visit of the ADB president, a loan agreement of about 1.4 billion dollars was also signed under the annual commitment program of 2026.
ADB President Masato Kanda said, ‘Bangladesh is now entering an important new phase. ADB will help maintain the stability achieved, create new sources of growth and build a more diversified and resilient economy.’
According to ADB, this five billion dollar assistance will be given over the next five years under a new program called ‘Integrated Growth Network Development Initiative’. It aims to increase investment, create employment, improve connectivity and ensure balanced growth by reducing regional disparities.
According to the plan, the funding will average about one billion dollars a year. This will be included in ADB’s enhanced annual lending framework for Bangladesh.
Currently, ADB’s annual sovereign debt commitment in Bangladesh is about $2 billion. The company plans to increase it to about $2.4 billion in the medium term. ADB said the additional financing will support investment-led growth, employment, economic diversification, good governance and transition from the list of least developed countries (LDCs).
ADB will provide an additional $250 million to Bangladesh to help increase fuel oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), fertilizer and transportation costs amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
ADB also said technical assistance of $20 million will be provided to support the implementation of Bangladesh’s medium-term development framework.
