Foreign aid inflow jumps by 91pc in five months

Bangladesh received US$1.72 billion worth of foreign aid in July-November period this fiscal year (FY2017-18).

The disbursements of the concessional medium- and long-term (MLT) assistance were 91 per cent higher than $903.18 million registered in the corresponding period of last FY (2016-17), according to provisional data released Monday.

Of the total assistance, the development partners provided $1.60 billion in concessional loans and $126.73 million in grants, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) data showed.

Meanwhile, the aid commitments of US$6.71 billion were registered during the first five months of the current FY.

The commitments were very high at $13.42 billion in the same period of last FY when the government signed a loan agreement of $11.38 billion with Russia for the Rooppur nuclear power plant project, an ERD official said.

Talking to the FE, ERD Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam termed the aid inflow impressive and expected to achieve the external assistance target of nearly $7.0 billion by the end of this FY. The target is 35 per cent more than that of the last FY.

He said the aid disbursements would increase further subject to timely implementation of the projects.

The development partners like the World Bank (WB), ADB, JICA, DFID and IDB disbursed concessional loans every year for the development of Bangladesh.

According to the ERD data, out of the $6.71 billion MLT concessional aid commitments, they confirmed $6.57 billion in loans and $142.69 million in grants in the July-November period of this FY.

Meanwhile, the country paid back $524.84 million worth of loans -- $414.62 million in interests and $110.21 million in principal amounts -- during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the ERD data showed.

In the same period of last FY, it repaid a total of $433.08 million in loans-- $339.33 million in interests and $93.75 million of principal amounts.

The government received a total of $3.56 billion in foreign assistance (concessional loans and grants) in the last FY.

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