Letter sent to ADB for Tk 4 thousands crore

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has sought 500 million (Tk 4,250 crore) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The money will be used as budget support to overcome the crisis in Corona. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal recently wrote a letter to ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.

The letter said the money would be spent on social security and assistance to the disadvantaged in Corona. Besides, the needs of the health sector will be met. The letter thanked for the continuous support in social development. This information has been found in the relevant sources.

A senior finance ministry official said, “In the current situation, more money is needed to meet the budget demand.” Budget assistance has been sought for this. ADB has not yet informed us.

MK Mujeri, a former director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said: The package announced by the government will not have much impact on the budget. But the huge population of the informal sector affected by the Corona will have to pay from the budget for food and cash assistance. We have to spend on the destitute and poor people. So the government should raise funds from other sources, not just ADB.

The finance minister’s letter said the money would be spent in two parts.250 million dollars will be spent on social repatriation in Corona. The rest of the money will be spent on reform work for the development of Bangladesh.

Earlier last week, the World Bank agreed with the government to pay Tk 8,840 crore or 105 crore dollars to deal with corona, including the purchase of corona vaccine. Corona has had a devastating effect on society and the economy. Recently added a second wave of corona.

To deal with this situation, Bangladesh is taking loan assistance from various donor agencies at the international level. Following this, the Finance Minister has sent a letter to the President of ADB.

The finance minister said in the letter that the state of the economy was good. The growth target is set at 8.15 percent. But due to corona, the growth was reduced to 5.2 percent. Corona has reduced global demand for products, he said. This has created a negative situation in Bangladesh’s exports.

Sunbd/NJ