WB warns of pulling funds from faltering development projects

Unhappy about inordinate execution delays, the World Bank has warned of withdrawing its funds from over half a dozen projects, officials said Thursday after a review meeting with the lender.

It has also called the government agencies for completing the eight ongoing projects, involving an assistance of US$3.02 billion, in time, as the development partner is reluctant to extend the completion scheduled, they said.

The latest prod came when representatives of the global lender sat Thursday in Dhaka for reviewing its financial-supported eight 'slow-moving' and 'problematic' projects in Bangladesh.

"The meeting was basically held for streamlining the slow-moving and weak-progressed projects. The Bank has called the project authorities to execute the remaining works in time or it will withdraw the unspent money," a senior official involved with the WB-funded project told the FE.

The Bank might withdraw its committed assistance partially, as it is unspent for failure in completion in time even after several reminders over the last few years, he said, requesting anonymity.

A tripartite meeting between the WB, Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the project directors concerned was held for a review of slow-going projects in Bangladesh as some of the Bank-funded schemes are on the weak trajectory in terms of execution.

The WB had earlier selected eight projects as the worst performers out of the ongoing 55 projects in the country.

Actually, the selected projects have been struggling for implementation delays for many months, which annoyed the development partner, he said.

A senior ERD official said: "Discussing with the WB, we had selected the eight slow-moving projects. The funds from the Bank had already been confirmed. But their progresses are slow. So it needs to be streamlined," he added.

The ERD official said the meeting discussed the possible solutions for overcoming the hurdles on way to project implementation.

The projects include the $500 million-funded 'Livestock and Dairy Development Project', $700 million 'Primary Education Development Programme-IV', $340 million-funded 'Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project', $100.50 million 'Dhaka City Neighborhood Upgrading Project', $425 million 'Operation for Supporting Rural Bridges project', $356.70 million 'Bangladesh Investment Promotion and Financing Facility Project II', and the $100 million-funded 'College Education Development Project'.

According to the officials, many of the eight projects are on the very weak trajectory in terms of implementation after the loan approval by the WB.

Among the projects, the Livestock and Dairy Development Project was approved in December 2018 but still remained on a slow lane, an ERD official said.

The $100.50 million Dhaka City Neighborhood Upgrading Project was approved four years ago in March 2019, which is also moving slow.

The $425 million WB-supported Operation for Supporting Rural Bridges project loan was approved in October 2018, but its execution is still in poor state, they said.

Also falling behind the timeline is the $356 million 'Bangladesh Investment Promotion and Financing Facility Project II (IPFF II)", approved in April 2017.

The $356-million cost 'Bangladesh Investment Promotion and Financing Facility Project II (IPFF II)', approved in April 2017, is still ongoing.

The $500 million 'Western Economic Corridor and Regional Enhancement Program' was approved in June 2020, implementation of which has been struggling for some last three years.

Some five years ago in June 2018, the Washington-based lender approved $700 million loan for the Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4).

Currently, the World Bank's total portfolio in Bangladesh consists of nearly 55 ongoing projects with a commitment of some $15 billion worth of loans and grants.

[email protected]