India to release $1b under LOCs by June 2022

India is going to disburse $1 billion under the lines of credit (LOCs) extended to Bangladesh by June next year, including the already disbursed $895 million, Pankaj Kumar Singh, an adviser to the country’s Ministry of External Affairs, has said.

India’s Exim Bank disbursed $895 million in the last decade against the commitment of $7.5 billion under LOCs.

The bank will disburse $325.58 million within June 2022.

The 19th India-Bangladesh LOC review meeting was held in the capital on Wednesday and Thursday to review the progress in 43 projects being implemented under the LOCs.

At the meeting, the Bangladesh delegation was led by Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, additional secretary of the Economic Relations Division, while Sridharan Madhusudhanan, joint secretary of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, headed the Indian delegation.

Representatives of Indian companies executing the LOC projects in Bangladesh and ministry officials also participated in the meeting.

The Indian delegation talked to journalists at a press conference at the Indian embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh officials said the slowdown in aid disbursement had affected the execution of projects in Bangladesh between 2010-11 and 2020-21 fiscal years.

Pankaj said complex development project plan procedures and the complicated nature of implementation on the Bangladesh side were the reasons for the slow disbursement.

Both sides agreed that the LOC review mechanism is an ideal platform to monitor the progress of projects, understand and remove procedural bottlenecks, and ensure timely implementation.