Bangladesh to get $2.25b World Bank loan confirmation on May 1

The World Bank is expected to confirm a record-high loan worth $2.253 billion for Bangladesh in a single day on May 1 as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit the bank's headquarters in Washington.

Five separate loan agreements would be signed on five projects and programmes on the day, officials at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said.

The Bangladesh Premier is scheduled to join WB Group President David Malpass at the Bangladesh-World Bank 50 years of partnership celebration there.

Of the expected loans, highest $753 million is earmarked for a regional connectivity project while $500 million budgetary support for a programme styled 'Bangladesh under the Green, Resilient Inclusive Development (GRID)'.

Moreover, $500 million loan would be provided to the Resilient Infrastructure for Adaptation and Vulnerability Reduction (RIVER) project, $250 million for Bangladesh Environmental Sustainabil-ity and Transformation (BEST) Project, and $250 million for a project of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF).

Following confirmation of the loan, Bangladesh is expected to start developing the important infrastructure projects, said an ERD official.

Another official said the WB's aid commitment during this fiscal year would cross the $3.0 billion mark as another $500 million loan is in the pipeline for approval.

Earlier, the lender had already provided $300 million for Covid recovery programme.

Meanwhile in January last, Bangladesh and the World Bank jointly organised an event in Dhaka to celebrate the partnership, which is considered to have improved the lives of millions of people in Bangladesh.

On May 01, the WB would showcase the outcome of its collaboration with Bangladesh - a country that achieved lower middle-income status in only four decades of its independence.