The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Bangladesh on Tuesday (November 28, 2023) signed a $100 million loan agreement to improve computer science, software engineering, and information technology (IT) programs in three universities in Bangladesh. Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Edimon Ginting, Country Director, ADB, signed the loan agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively, at a ceremony at ERD in Dhaka. “This project will help accelerate fourth industrial revolution technology adoption, realize the vision of Digital Bangladesh, and enable the country to reap the demographic dividend by creating digitally qualified young human resources and entrepreneurs,” said ADB Country Director Edimon Ginting. “This new initiative builds on ADB’s ongoing skills development support through industry partnerships to increase competitiveness and foster innovation,” he said. Read: ADB to provide $200 million to promote energy efficiency, transition in Bangladesh The Improving Computer and Software Engineering Tertiary Education Project will upgrade the computer science and engineering, software engineering, and information technology degree programs of the leading public universities in Bangladesh. The universities receiving the funding are: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), University of Dhaka (DU), and Jashore University of Science and Technology. These programs will adopt blended learning techniques and integrate the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and internet of things. These programs will seek international accreditation to ensure that students get updated curricula that adhere to international standards. Read: ADB to lend $336.5 million to Bangladesh to help develop vaccine production ADB will support the establishment of modern classrooms and laboratories, collaboration and start-up spaces, and auxiliary facilities in the three universities. These facilities will incorporate climate- and disaster-resilient designs, energy- and water-saving features, and will include women-friendly amenities and services. The universities will develop capacities of teachers to be proficient in new instructional approaches and emerging digital technologies. The students and teachers from the three and other universities will also work with industry partners to come up with innovative solutions through joint research and development. Mandatory internship opportunities, career counseling, and industry placement will be provided to undergraduate students, particularly for women. Read: ADB provides $90 million for clean water, sanitation services in the Hill Tracts

A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is due to arrive in Dhaka on April 25 to discuss the progress in the use of the first tranche of its US$4.7 billion loan programme for Bangladesh and the release of the second installment. The Ministry of Finance sources told UNB on Wednesday that during its April 25 to May 2 visit the mission will hold meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Finance's Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Bangladesh Bank, and National Board of Revenue (NBR). IMF Asia and Pacific Division Head Rahul Anand will lead the team comprising three to four members, the ministry sources said speaking on condition of anonymity. Read More: World Bank spring meeting begins in Washington today, announcement on $50bn allocation to face global crisis likely Bangladesh received the first tranche of US$476.2 million of the $4.7 billion loan approved by the IMF on January 30. The entire amount of the loan will be paid in seven installments in three and a half years until 2026. As such there are six more installments left. A senior official of the ministry said the IMF usually reviews various aspects of compliance before disbursing each tranche. Accordingly, an IMF team will come next September to review the fulfillment of loan conditions before disbursing the second tranche. Read More: Following IMF advice BBS to calculate inflation on a new base year from March Usually before each budget announcement, an IMF mission comes to Dhaka to discuss budget assistance. Now that the loan programme is going on with them, besides the budget assistance, the issues of fulfilling the loan conditions will also come up for discussion, said the sources.

The spring meeting of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begins today (April 10, 2023) in Washington DC, USA. This meeting is likely to announce an allocation of USD $50 billion from the organisations to face the global crisis. The seven-day meeting will continue till April 16 at the headquarters of the IMF and the World Bank Group in Washington. Read More: Bangladesh's GDP growth expected to pick up to 6.2% in FY2024: World Bank According to the Ministry of Finance, a delegation of six members is participating in the spring meeting led by the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Abdur Rouf Talukder. Along with the governor, Bangladesh Bank Chief Economist Habibur Rahman, Finance Secretary Fatima Yasmin and Additional Secretary of Finance Department Rehana Parveen and two officials from the Economic Relations Department (ERD) are participating in the meeting. Apart from this, three more officials from the Bangladesh Embassy in the United States are expected to join the meeting along with the Bangladesh team. Read More: World Bank agrees to finance for development of metro rail-centric communication Generally, such meetings are led by the finance minister. However, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is not joining the meetings this time. At this meeting of the World Bank Group, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a subsidiary of the organization, may announce an additional financing of $50 billion to deal with the global crisis. Being a member of IBRD, Bangladesh will also get the benefit of this financing, the finance ministry sources said. Read More: New World Bank leadership must put Climate Action as top priority: V20 The World Bank's spring meeting will be chaired by President of France Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley. They will be joined by world leaders, academics, development experts and climate experts. Besides, finance ministers, central bank governors of 189 World Bank member countries will participate.

Mashiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said on Thursday that the IMF loan is like a character certificate. “If we get this certificate, everyone will show interest in giving us loans,” he told a seminar on ‘South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Tapping New Opportunities.’ The discussion was jointly organised by Economic Relations Division (ERD) and UNDP in the capital, Dhaka. Read more: Government working on IMF’s conditions to get $4.5 billion loan Mashiur said that the IMF’s lending as budget support means that the economic management of a country is sound. “If this is the case, other countries or organisations will express interest in lending easily. The investment will also come along with it,” he said. UN Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis and UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Liller were present as special guests while ERD Secretary Sharifa Khan presided over the function. Read more: $4.5bn IMF loan: 1st instalment expected next Feb, says Mustafa Kamal Policy Exchange of Bangladesh CEO and Chairman M. Masrur Reaz and Research and Policy Integration for Development (PRI) Chairman Dr. MA Razzaque presented the main articles on the topic. Faizul Islam, Additional Secretary of ERD and UNDP’s Country Economist Nazneen Ahmed also spoke at the event.

A loan agreement of USD $200 million along with a project agreement for micro-enterprise financing and credit enhancement project was signed on Tuesday between the government and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Sharifa Khan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Edimon Ginting, Country Director, of Bangladesh Resident Mission signed at loan document on behalf of the respective sides. Dr. Nomita Halder, Managing Director, PKSF, and Edimon Ginting, Country Director, Bangladesh Resident Mission, signed the project agreement separately. Read more: $1 billion loan: ADB vice-president to reach Dhaka tonight for discussion The project will be executed by the Financial Institutions Division and implemented by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) to increase financing for micro-enterprises. Soft loans will be provided to small entrepreneurs (especially women), which in turn, will improve women's economic empowerment. The estimated completion date of the project is 31 December 2027. ADB's total loan to Bangladesh till now is more than $ 27.22 billion and the total grant is about $ 0.537 billion. Read more: ADB to invest $2 billion over next 3 years in Bangladesh’s education sector

Dhaka, April 18 (UNB)-The World Bank provides USD $ 250 million for the recovery and resilience of the economy from the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic. A loan agreement of $250 million signed on Monday between the Economic Relation Division (ERD) and World Bank under the ‘Bangladesh-First Recovery and Resilience Development Policy Credit (DPCI)’. ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin and Mohammad Anis, acting country director of the World Bank in Bnagladesh signed the loan agreement on behalf of their respective sides. In response to the adverse effects of Covid-19, the government has provided stimulus incentives to economically affected industries, agriculture sector and export-oriented Industries and to ensure food security, the government extended the social safety net programs and employment creation. Also read: World Bank projects developing East Asia Pacific to grow 5 pct in 2022 The WB has agreed to provide $250 million as Budget Support, titled `Bangladesh-First Recovery and Resilience Development Policy Credit (DPC1)', which will play a key role in sustaining the post Covid-19 economic recovery and development momentum. The DPC series will provide $500 million in two consecutive Fiscal Years 2021-22 and 2022-23. The remaining objectives of the DPC are to assist Bangladesh in its efforts to implement budget stimulus for the subsequent recovery of Covid-19 and to enhance resilience to future shocks. The interest rate of the above-mentioned loan is 1.25 percent, and the service charge at the rate of 0.75 percent, and this loan has to be repaid in 30 years with a grace period of 5 years. Also read: World Bank okays $358 million fund to improve road safety in Bangladesh

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will honour 9 firms on the National VAT Day for paying highest amount  of Value Added Tax (VAT). The VAT department of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday released a list of awardees. Earlier the Economic Relations Division (ERD) published a gazette notification in this regard. Read:NBR to organize month-long tax support service from Nov 1 December 10 is celebrated as the National VAT Day every year. The NBR will honour the highest tax payers of the fiscal year 2019-20 on this day. Nine firms under three categories- production, business and service- will receive the awards at a ceremony in Dhaka. The list of awardees includes Aristopharma Limited, Square Toiletries Limited and Maya Bidi Factory under the production category, SM Motors, AMCO Bajaj International and Union Motors Limited under business category and IDTCO Bangladesh Co. Ltd. Gray Advertising Ltd. and Robert Boss (Bangladesh) Ltd under service category. The VAT department of the National Board of Revenue has been regularly honoring the top VAT payers for several years. Read: NBR directs big push to reach the revenue target for current fiscal Business establishments which have Electronic Business Identification Number (EBIN), issue regular VAT receipts to the consumers and regularly deposit the collected VAT money in the government treasury are considered eligible for the award. NBR will also honour 102 companies in the three categories as the top VAT payers at the district level.

Bangladesh will receive $250 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to implement a government programme for the country’s sustainable economic recovery from Covid-19 fallouts. ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin and AIIB’s vice president, investment operations (Region-1) DJ Pandian signed the loan agreement virtually on behalf of their respective sides. The finance division has taken the programme to reform policies for the recovery of Bangladesh economy from the pandemic shocks. Read Next 2 weeks crucial to ensure TRIPS waiver for pharma beyond LDC graduation The Asian Development Bank (ADB). AIIB, the lead financier of the programme, is contributing $250 million as a co-financier. Under the programme, steps will be taken to reduce and rationalize expenditure by reforming and strengthening the public finance management (PFM) system and expanding financial resources, said Fatima. Also read: World Bank prediction on Bangladesh economy inconsistent: Finance Minister The programme also aims to create financing opportunities for industries and entrepreneurs such as small, medium and cottage industries whose sources of funding are insufficient, she said. The loan will be received in AIIB’s standard term and conditions. The repayment period of the loan is 20 years, including a 3-year grace period.

The government has taken a very strong stance against the idea floated by the World Bank that apparently suggests the integration of Rohingyas into Bangladesh as Bangladesh’s priority remains repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland. “We took a very strong stance. We didn’t like it and we opposed it strongly. We conveyed it,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told UNB. The World Bank came up with a programme as part of its Refugee Policy Review Framework globally for refugee host countries through the Economic Relations Division (ERD). “Rohingyas are not refugees here. They’re taking shelter temporarily,” Dr Momen said, adding that Bangladesh wants the repatriation of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Myanmar. Asked about the WB’s proposed programme, the Foreign Minister said the WB is saying effective steps to be taken to identify, prevent and mitigate social tensions and risk of violence among the displaced people and host communities, building good relations among themselves,  and to employ them in local works. Read: Poor host communities fume as Rohingyas start grabbing local labour market He said they (WB) are saying Rohingyas should have the right to work and free mobility; and birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates should be issued for the Rohingyas like Bangladesh citizens. “Naturally, we don’t accept those ideas. They (WB) are willing to give money for these if we do integrate them.” As per the WB ideas shared with the ERD, the Rohingyas should have access to local labour market, including business opportunities, the same way Bangladesh nationals have with the same payment facilities.

A high-level committee has started working out strategy and plan to overcome the possible challenges of Bangladesh’s graduation from the status of a least developed country (LDC). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on April 26 last formed the 22-member committee, headed by Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, for preparation, planning, implementation and monitoring in tackling the possible challenges of Bangladesh’s LDC graduation. The committee sat in its first meeting virtually on Wednesday. Dr Ahmad Kaikaus presided over the meeting, joining it from the Prime Minister’s Office. The meeting discussed different possible negative impacts on the country’s economy, socioeconomic and other areas, especially in the export oriented sectors like RMG and pharmaceuticals during the post-graduation period. Also read: Bangladesh’s LDC graduation: Govt has its plan to face next challenges Economic Relations Divisions (ERD) Secretary Fatima Yasmin made a power-pint presentation in the meeting. The committee decided to sort out the possible challenges in different sectors within a month. To this end, a six-member subcommittee was formed under senior secretary of Commerce Ministry Dr Md Jafar Uddin. “The subcommittee was asked to identify the sector-wise challenges and prepare an action plan within one month,” PMO Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah told reporters after the meeting. Noting that Bangladesh would lose different international supports during the post-graduation period, he said duty free and quota free access and concessional loan facilities from bilateral or multilateral sources for Bangladesh would be narrowed for Bangladesh following the graduation. Also read: Work together to tackle negative impacts after LDC graduation: Speakers Besides, the issue of intellectual property rights would shrink any time after 2033, he said. In the meeting, the committee also took the decision to arrange a large-scale seminar with experts of different sectors and academicians as early as possible to receive their views and opinions over the post-LDC challenges. The committee will sit in a meeting every month regularly. The committee members are Principal coordinator (SDGs Affairs) at the PMO (Zuena Aziz), senior secretary of ICT Division, Senior secretary of Finance Division, NBR chairman, the member (GED) of the Planning Commission, Senior secretary of Commerce Ministry, PMO secretary, ERD secretary, foreign secretary, industries secretary, agriculture secretary, environment secretary, BIDA executive chairman, chairman of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, liberation war affairs secretary, Planning Commission’s member Sharifa Khan, FBCCI president, BGMEA president, DCCI president, Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) president, director general (Executive Cell and PEPZ) at PMO (member secretary of the committee) joined the meeting. Also read: Swedish development cooperation to continue past LDC graduation Bangladesh has started its LDC graduation journey with the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She participated in the 4th LDC related summit of the United Nations held on May 9-13, 2011, where “Istanbul Plan of Action” was adopted. Since then, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the action plan for the LDC graduation of Bangladesh, and she has been giving directives to this end constantly, said the PMO Secretary.