Finance minister thanks ADB for providing budget aid to tackle pandemic

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday thanked Asian Development Bank (ADB) for providing Bangladesh with $1.0 billion as budget aid to face the adverse economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The minister was addressing a meeting at a city hotel with visiting ADB vice president (operation) Shixin Chen, reports UNB.

Kamal praised the ADB’s role as the ’main development partner’ of Bangladesh. Since independence, Manila-based and mainly Japan-funded ADB provided $27 billion in loan aid to the country.

The finance minister hoped for continued cooperation of ADB for socio-economic development and poverty alleviation in Bangladesh.

In response, ADB’s vice president Chen has assured Kamal to continue ADB’s aid for the recovery of the economy from the loss of pandemics and for socio-economic improvement.

Bangladesh Bank’s Governor Fazle Kabir, finance secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, Economic Relations Division Secretary Fatema Yasmin, ADB’s deputy director Manmohan Parkash, and Country Director Mr Edimon Ginting, among others, were present in the meeting.