WB clears $1.25b loan for Bangladesh

The World Bank’s board of executive directors on Thursday discussed a new country partnership frame-work (CPF) for Bangladesh (2023-2027) and approved $1.25 billion financing in three new projects.

The CPF anchored in the government’s eighth Five Year Plan and the Long-Term Perspective Plan 2021–2041, will support Bangladesh’s goal to achieve upper-middle-income country status by 2031 by helping the country to address key barriers to higher and sustainable growth, read a World Bank press release.

It will help develop a diversified and competitive private sector to create more and better jobs; promote socioeconomic inclusion to expand opportunities for all; and address climate and environmental vulnera-bilities. These three outcomes are key priorities for Bangladesh’s growth aspirations.

Guided by these priorities, the CPF proposes a robust program of technical and financial support focusing on eight objectives—improved business environment for broad-based private sector development; strengthened financial intermediation for long-term growth and resilience; improved effectiveness of pub-lic institutions to deliver better services; improved quality and equitable access for human capital develop-ment services; enhanced economic opportunities for women and vulnerable groups; strengthened spatial and digital connectivity for inclusive growth; improved effectiveness of delta management for accelerated climate resilience building and sustainability; and productivity in the use of natural capital for green growth and energy transition.

“This Country Partnership Framework builds on five decades of strong partnership between the World Bank Group and Bangladesh,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “As Bangladesh aims to be more prosperous, it will need stronger institutions and policies to serve the needs of an upper-middle-income country. This CPF will support the government’s reform programs to deliver jobs and support inclusion and resilience.”

To prepare the CPF, the World Bank Group held extensive countrywide and online consultations with key stakeholder groups, including the government, the private sector, civil society, think tanks, academia, me-dia, and other development partners.

“Bangladesh has an ambitious goal – to achieve upper middle-income status within a short period and that too in the face of the daunting challenges of climate change, said Junaid Kamal Ahmad, MIGA vice president of operations. “Access to pri-vate capital and global financial markets will increasingly be needed to achieve this goal.”

“Bangladesh has been one of the world’s outstanding development growth stories. Additional reforms to spur the devel-opment of a more diversified and competitive private sector will grow exports and create quality jobs,” said Martin Holt-mann, IFC’s country manager for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. “Financing for green investments to help tackle and miti-gate climate risks will become increasingly important.”