Home ›› 07 May 2023 ›› Editorial
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the grand ceremony marking the 50-year partnership between Bangladesh and the World Bank on May 1, 2023.
Indeed, the picture of the Padma Bridge, which the prime minister handed to David Mallpass, President of the World Bank, presents the sagacity and visionary leadership quality of the Prime Minister. The financing glitch of the megaproject Padma Multipurpose Bridge [PMB] and the stalemate in the financing could only be salvaged by a visionary and bold leader. The World Bank in September 2011 alleged graft in the appointment of consultants. It suspended financing in April 2012 with further allegations of corruption among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives, and private individuals in consultation with the authority of the PMB Project. The response from the government was sharp and explicit on corruption allegations.
Subsequently, there were a series of consultations between the government of Bangladesh and the World Bank on the modus operandi of credit effectiveness and alternative proposals, such as the appointment of a particular inquiry team in the ACC to handle the probe and a turnkey type of implementation arrangements provided the government took severe actions against the high-level corruption. Ultimately there needed to be a consensus on credit effectiveness.
The credit cancellation was a severe blow; the uncertainty in the financing arrangements of the $ 2.9 billion project at the beginning of the implementation phase could mean shelving the project outright, even by a professional planner. This stalemate at the very initial stage of implementation posed a severe challenge to the Prime Minister, who took courageous steps in implementing the projects with domestic financing defying strong dissents from her close associates. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge on June 25, 2022, the toll collection till January 31, 2023, was tk. 471 crore- an impressive beginning. There are hurdles behind every success but ingenuity, boldness, and creativity help reach the shore of prosperity, leaving all odds behind.
The financing enigma of the PMB is a sore in the economic partnership between the World Bank and Bangladesh. However, the visit of Kaushik Basu was the beginning of a thaw in the relationship, and the courteous visit by the Prime Minister in Washington D.C. was the beginning of a new partnership in the economic development of Bangladesh.
Let me project the World Bank standing in the total aid scenario of the economic attainment of Bangladesh. The World Bank, primarily through the International Development Association [IDA], has been a longstanding partner of Bangladesh since the country’s independence. The IDA has committed over $38 billion in grants, interest-free and concessional financing credits to Bangladesh. Currently, with a total IDA commitment standing at 15.7 billion for 55 ongoing projects, Bangladesh has the most extensive IDA program globally. The financing constitutes over a quarter of all foreign aid to the country.
The World Bank’s program spans the socioeconomic and physical infrastructure sectors. The socioeconomic sector includes intervention in health, nutrition, education, and micro-credit; infrastructure includes roads and bridges. A few successful projects are the Dhaka Urban Transport Project, the Jamuna Bridge [ 25 percent of the project cost],
The World Bank has been the most significant development partner in the public sector’s health program since the mid-seventies. Through various projects, the World Bank is helping reduce malnutrition, mortality, and fertility and promoting healthy lifestyles. The under-five mortality rate decreased from 273/1000 live births in 1970 to 29.1/1000 in 2020, a decline in the fertility rate from 5 births per woman to 2.04 percent and immunization of over 89 percent person set the country in achieving a few targets of Sustainable Development Goal 3.
The country needs to address the issues of non-Communicable Diseases and be prepared for emerging infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s health system needs to be strengthened for both quality and equity of health services through an increase in public spending on health, improvement in governance and stewardship, enhancement in human resources, and embracing multisectoral approaches to address social determinants of health. The World Bank is aligning financial and technical support to Bangladesh to meet these challenges. The Bank supports the government’s fourth Health Nutrition Population Sector program and has been preparing two new operations to strengthen both urban and rural health systems in the Country under the 5th Health, Nutrition, and Population Sector Program.
Projects in the education sector cover the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels and are financed by the IDA credit. The program is supplemented by technical and vocational education and training. The projects designed for hard-to-reach children and NEET [Not in Education, Employment, or Training] youth prepare children and youth to become competent and productive in the development process. The country’s net enrollment rate reached above 97 percent and 71 percent at the primary and secondary school levels, respectively, in 2020. However, due to the effects of COVID-19 in recent years, the country experienced many student dropouts. The country fulfills gender parity with 6.9 million girls in secondary schools (Grades 6-10) in 2021, more girls than boys in secondary schools. However, improving the quality of education at all levels remains the most significant challenge for Bangladesh historically.
An OED document provides a glimpse into the effectiveness through a sectoral study that addresses four goals: expanding and improving primary education, opening practical skill training to more people, improving agricultural extension, and improving training. The lending helped to achieve only one of four goals, albeit the most important one.
“ The provision of primary education for the poor, particularly girls, has been impressive and has attracted numerous financing from other donors. While IDA made an important contribution to this effort, the goal was achieved primarily due to the long-term commitment to make the country’s population literate. Although quality must improve, the system’s foundation has been laid.”
The management projects should have imparted skills to students, and agricultural and technical-vocational education institutes missed the appropriate trainees.
“The IDA projects have opened doors for many students on every level of education. But the doors do not necessarily lead to the acquisition of useful knowledge. Primary education students have low levels of basic skills. At the same time, graduates of the other IDA-financed sub-sectors acquire few skills applicable to the work they are expected to do”
The World Bank as a crucial development partner has financed projects in energy, agriculture, climate change, disaster risk management, environment, water and sanitation, social protection, and governance. There are projects addressing the institutional capability in many vital sectors, including public administration and the power sector. The World Bank supports the government towards climate-resilient diversification and safer and more efficient food systems, helping over 1.8 million rural households modernize farm practices.
It also supports 2 million household farmers and small and medium-scale agro-entrepreneurs to sustain livestock production with higher productivity and better market access. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it helped business continuity for 680,000 most vulnerable households in the livestock sector.
The World Bank has supported the Government of Bangladesh in transforming the entire procurement process online through an electronic government procurement (e-GP) system. The country’s e-GP system has contributed an average annual savings of US$1.4 billion with an overall investment of only US$70 million. It has also significantly increased the accessibility, efficiency, and transparency of the public procurement system.
From a dismal economic scenario at birth in 1971, Bangladesh reached lower-middle income status in 2015; it is on track to graduate from the Least Developed Countries [ LDC] list in 2026 and attain the level of upper-middle income country by 2031. The World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework [CPF] for 2016-2020 and the offshoot Performance Learning and Review (PLR) to FY21 outlines the plan for supporting the country to ensure green, resilient, and inclusive development. The Country Partnership Framework for Bangladesh for 2023-2027, linked with the Eighth Five-Year Plan, could be a guide on the road to upper-middle-income countries.
The writer teaches at BRAC University and BIDS as an adjunct Faculty in the Master’s Programme in Economics. He can be contacted at mirobaidurr7@gmail.com.
