World Bank to provide $280m to Bangladesh to improve Chattogram WASA; deal signed

Today, the World Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA) and the government of Bangladesh inked a $280.00 million finance agreement to carry out the “Chattogram Water Supply Improvement Project (CWSIP).”

On behalf of their respective parties, the agreement was signed by Gayle H. Martin, Country Director (Interim), World Bank, and Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD).

By December 31, 2030, the Chattogram WASA of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives’ Local Government Division (LGD) will have completed the project.

The project aims to increase access to safe, reliable and climate resilient water supply and improved sanitation in Chattogram; and to improve the performance and financial sustainability of Chattogram WASA, said an ERD press release.

The terms and conditions of the $280.00 million loan to be received from the World Bank for the project are as follows:

The amount of $140.00 million (equivalent to 105.20 million SDR) will be provided from the Scale-up Window-Shorter Maturity Loan (SUW-SML) of the World Bank. 

The repayment period of the loan is 12 years including a grace period of 6 years. No Service Charge, Commitment Fee and Interest will be paid on the amount withdrawn from this loan. 

Remaining $140.00 million equivalent to 21,345,100,000 (twenty one billion three hundred forty-five million one hundred thousand) Japanese Yen will be provided from the Scale-up Window (SUW) of the World Bank. 

In this case, 0.25% will be paid as Front-end Fee. The repayment period of this loan is 35 years including a grace period of 5 years. Commitment Fee of 0.25% is payable on the undrawn amount of this loan; and the interest rate of this loan will be Tokyo Overnight Average Rate (TONA) + Variable Spread. 

According to the announcement, Bangladesh’s biggest multilateral development partner is the World Bank. Since Bangladesh gained its independence, the World Bank has pledged more than $43.50 billion for the country, indicating the path for further development of Bangladesh-World Bank collaboration.

The World Bank is currently providing $13.10 billion in funding for 47 ongoing projects across a variety of industries, including infrastructure development, institutional reforms, economic and social development, and energy sector development.