WB renews its commitments to Bangladesh; stands ready to work with interim govt

Country Director of the World Bank in Bangladesh and Bhutan Abdoulaye Seck on Tuesday renewed the World Bank Group’s commitments to Bangladesh saying they are ready to work with the interim government led by Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus as the chief adviser.

“We renewed our World Bank Group’s commitments and we stand ready to work with the interim government to continue the long standing strong partnership between the World Bank and Bangladesh with a commitments of over $42 billon since 1972,” he said after meeting the Adviser to the interim government on the Ministries of Finance and Planning Dr Salehuddin Ahmed at the latter’s ERD office.

Seck said they renewed their commitments to the people of Bangladesh to make sure carrying out reforms which are critical for the country, the financial sector, important trade reforms, business climate and so to the agenda of private-sector led jobs creations for young people, the agenda of inclusion, agenda of resilience to climate risks.

Asked whether there is any concern over the repayment capacity of Bangladesh’s foreign loans, Seck said it has never been a concern for Bangladesh over the last 50 years since Bangladesh has been a reliable partner. “It has never been a concern for Bangladesh as I’ve worked in various capacities in different countries. So, I think this country will be proud of it,”

Replying to another question on the struggling financial sector, the World Bank Country Director said that since it has been a critical agenda, the World Bank Group has been supporting in many of the agenda which were critical like the policy-based lending and the Bank Company Act. “But, still there are a number of issues like how to reduce the NPLs and we’re very much encouraged on how we can work together,”

Seck also expressed heartfelt condolences from the World Bank Group at the loss of lives at the recent student-led quota reform movement and the mass uprising that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dr Salehuddin said that the World Bank Group stands ready to support whatever they can do for the people of Bangladesh following the rules and regulations and there is no doubt about it.

He said to make the country’s economy more active, the government is seeking all sorts of support from its development partners especially from the World Bank and the IFC.

IFC country manager for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal Martin Holtmann said that a strong economy needs a strong financial sector while the IFC, as the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, stands ready to support Bangladesh.

Mentioning that the IFC has several investments in financial institutions in Bangladesh, Martin said there are huge opportunities in the digitization fronts which Bangladesh has done very well over the last few years.

“So, we’re happy to support the government and the private sector partners ...” he added.