Foreign assistance for the Rohingya community taking shelter in Cox’s Bazar has dwindled and Bangladesh is struggling to sustain its programmes for them as the Rohingya crisis has dragged on and the attention of the international community shifted elsewhere. Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) disclosed the information at a roundtable discussion held at a hotel in the capital on Sunday. Speaking as the chief guest at a discussion titled "Integrated Approach to Eye Care Services in Humanitarian Settings: Lessons and Best Practices," organised by Orbis International and The Financial Express, he said looking after the Rohingya community is not the responsibility of Bangladesh alone. “We’ve shouldered the responsibility of the international community, including the United Nations. We’re working on behalf of them. Now they are forgetting us,” Orbis International quoted him as saying. Mizanur said health facilities in Rohingya camps has decreased from 160 to 120 now and components in the facilities also cut significantly due to fund shortage. Dhaka voices “deep concern” over recent influx of 40,000 Rohingyas He said the international agencies now working for the Rohingya community are also experiencing fund constraints. Professor Dr AHM Enayet Hussain, President of the Ophthalmological Society of Bangladesh (OSB) and Country Chair of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Bangladesh Chapter, while chairing the event said eye care is no more a health issue, it is now a development issue. He said with better eye care, one can perform better for society. Prof Enayet highlighted the lack of coordination among different agencies for prioritizing eye care in the government health facilities. Prof Khair Ahmed Choudhury, Director of the National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIO&H), disclosed at the discussion that Bangladesh is bringing cornea from Nepal for the victims of the July movement. He said the corneas for two patients were supposed to reach Dhaka by Sunday (October 20) afternoon on a Biman Bangladesh flight. Khair Ahmed said many people suffered eye issues due to gunshots and other injuries during the movement. Dhaka seeks Beijing's more active role to resolve Rohingya crisis Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Md Shamsud Douza urged actions for health literacy, including eye care, so that people understand their health problems and seek treatment. He stressed the need of cornea donation to restore eyesight of many and said awareness can encourage people to donate corneas. Representatives from Orbis’s partners in Rohingya response program, local and international non-government organizations working for the Rohingya community and relevant government bodies participated in the event. The participants discussed the challenges and opportunities in eye health and the ways to overcome the challenges and tap the opportunities, made different suggestions that may help make Rohingya-related programs integrated and comprehensive. The Fred Hollows Foundation Country Manager Musabbir Alam, Cox’s Bazar Baitush Sharaf Hospital (CBBSH) Manager Shahid Uddin Mahmood, Alliance for Cooperation and Legal Aid Bangladesh (ACLAB) official Moniruzzman, journalists Nurul Islam Hasib and Sarwar Azam Manik , among others, also spoke at the roundtable.

The foreign assistance for the national budget has declined to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year from US$ 3.26 billion in the last fiscal year (2021-22). Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday placed this statistics in Parliament while replying to a scripted question from Awami League lawmaker Morshed Alam (Noakhali-2). In the written answer, the minister said the government received assistance equivalent to some US$ 3.26 billion from different development partners for the budget in the last fiscal year. But there is a possibility to get the assistance equivalent to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year. Also read: 1st quarter performance of FY22-23 budget satisfactory: Finance Minister Responding to questions from ruling party MPs Kazim Uddin Ahmed (Mymensingh-11), the Finance Minister said there is currently no plan to increase the interest rate on family savings certificates. But the interest rate on savings certificates may be revised considering the investment situation. In response to a question from Mamunur Rashid Kiran (Noakhali-3), Mustafa Kamal said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been working to accomplish 100 percent of the revenue collection target. The NBR expects that the target will be fully achieved by the end of the fiscal year, he said.

According to The Telegraph, the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering keeping the nation’s foreign aid budget frozen for two more years. British foreign aid spending is limited to 0.5 percent of national income. Since the country’s public finances had taken a significant hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic two years prior, the British government reduced its spending on international aid. By 2024–2025, according to Sunak, who was the finance minister at the time, foreign spending should revert to its previous level of 0.7 percent of GDP. Read More: Rishi Sunak as UK PM: What are the expectations? The Telegraph, however, reported that officials are considering extending the cut in foreign aid funding by a further two years, until 2026–2027. The report also noted that there was room for even larger cuts and the possibility of indexing future foreign aid spending for three years to inflation. The report is released at a time when the UK is planning expenditure reductions and eliminating tax breaks due to the increasing cost of housing, food, fuel, and heating.  Read More: Rishi Sunak becomes UK's 3rd PM this year by King Charles III

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday stressed the need for having adequate policy support from the USA government to expand bilateral trade between the two countries. “It’s important that both the countries provide adequate policy support to further expand bilateral trade,” she said while addressing the virtual launching of the US-Bangladesh Business Council in a pre-recorded video message. The Prime Minister mentioned that Bangladesh buys a considerable amount of industrial raw materials and consumer items like cotton, soybean and wheat from the United States.  “All these items enjoy zero tariff in Bangladesh,” she added. Regarding development, she said the United States has remained as a strong partner in Bangladesh’s journey towards democracy and development. “It’s [US] the largest destination of our exports, the largest source of foreign direct investment, a longstanding development partner and an important source of technology and training.” The Prime Minister said while Bangladesh’s dependence on foreign aid has come down substantially, the need for foreign direct investment increased to create jobs for millions of youths.  Also read: Will work together with Bangladesh, global partners against Covid-19 pandemic: Miller

The Australian government has launched a review of its foreign aid priorities.