Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, the interim government’s adviser on the Ministries of Finance and Commerce, indicated his confidence that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Bangladesh with $400 million in budget support during the current fiscal year (FY25).
The government has already requested $3 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in addition to the $4.7 billion in credit support that has already been allocated to Bangladesh, he also stated.
“During my forthcoming visit to Washington to participate in the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group, I will engage in discussions with the IMF authorities regarding this matter,” he further stated.
The Finance Adviser was responding to a series of inquiries from reporters after three distinct delegations from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), ADB, and the Australian High Commission to Bangladesh visited him at his office at the Secretariat today.
He stated that all three development partners were extremely optimistic about the prospect of maintaining their relationship and engaging in additional activities with Bangladesh.
Dr. Salehuddin stated that the government is seeking additional low-cost funding from development partners in order to further reduce the cost of interest.
Additionally, the government is advocating for the development partners to extend the repayment period to a minimum of 30 years, as China has recently requested this. Nevertheless, he stated that Japan is already adhering to this.
He responded to another inquiry by asserting that the Awami League government of the immediate past did not prioritize the welfare of the nation’s populace. He continued, “However, we are not interested in conducting a postmortem on the past; rather, we wish to progress.”
The Finance Adviser responded to a query by stating that the foreign aid flow to Bangladesh is nearly satisfactory; however, there are concerns regarding the optimal utilization of the aid and the priorities for usage.“There were some monument projects in our country during the previous regime, a symptom that was also observed in India,” he continued.
Dr. Salehuddin stated that all three are significant development partners of Bangladesh when asked about the results of the meetings. “We met with them to discuss the possibility of further enhancing the cooperation that they were currently experiencing with Bangladesh,” he continued.
He stated that the development partners have assured the government of providing additional assistance and initiating additional engagements during the discussions.
Additionally, the Adviser stated that the meetings included discussions regarding the funding of initiatives in the physical infrastructure sector, as well as energy, agriculture, and disaster management..
Tomohide Ichiguchi, the principal representative of JICA, Nadira Simpson, the Acting High Commissioner of Australia to Bangladesh, and Cigdem Akin, the Director of the ADB’s Public Sector Management and Governance Sector, presided over their respective delegations during the meetings.
