Economic Reporter :
The government Wednesday signed a landmark agreement with India to receive a US$2 billion credit under which the neighbouring country extended its biggest ever-overseas loan to Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh-India friendship now reached at its peak but we want to set it to a higher trajectory . . . the signing of the agreement is the manifestation of the friendship,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s principal secretary Abul kalam Azad told the signing ceremony.
Senior secretary of Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division Mohammad Mejbahuddin signed the deal with chairman and managing director of India’s Exim Bank Yaduvendra Mathur as the financial institution would channel the credit.
“The US$ 2 billion LOC (line of credit) is the biggest credit line India has so far extended to any country,” said an Indian high commission statement, issued after the signing ceremony.
The Indian credit bears an interest rate of 1 per cent to be replayed in 20 years with a five-year grace period, it said.
Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Shahidul Haque and Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla, among others, witnessed the ceremony at the National Economic Council (NEC) Bhaban.
In a media briefing following the signing ceremony Mejbahuddin told newsmen that 14 projects so far were planned to be implemented with the second Indian LOC.
He said the projects under the credit would cover the power, railways, road, transportation, Information and Communication Technology, shipping, health and technical education sectors.
He said apart from infrastructural projects, there was a special focus on social sector cooperation pertaining to health and technical education aiming to integrate further economies of both the countries and strengthen mutual cooperation.
Responding a question, Mejbahuddin said under the agreement 25 percent Bangladeshi goods will be used in the implementation process while the receiving country would have stakes for 35 percent of the physical works of the projects.
The Indian envoy told the function that the two countries developed a functional joint mechanism in overseeing the implementation of the projects under the 2010 LOC and expected the arrangement to work well for the second LOC as well.
“All the 15 projects under the First LOC have received financial concurrence of EXIM Bank of
India. Seven of the total 15 projects have been completed and the rest are at various stages of implementation,” the Indian high commission statement read.
An ERD statement, meanwhile, said the “soft loan” committed under the second Indian LOC “will play a significant role in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh, which will be congenial for fostering the ongoing development partnership between the two countries”.
The first “Dollar Credit Line Agreement” for US$ 1 billion was signed between the two countries in 2010 for developing infrastructure projects, mostly in the communications sector.
The government Wednesday signed a landmark agreement with India to receive a US$2 billion credit under which the neighbouring country extended its biggest ever-overseas loan to Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh-India friendship now reached at its peak but we want to set it to a higher trajectory . . . the signing of the agreement is the manifestation of the friendship,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s principal secretary Abul kalam Azad told the signing ceremony.
Senior secretary of Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division Mohammad Mejbahuddin signed the deal with chairman and managing director of India’s Exim Bank Yaduvendra Mathur as the financial institution would channel the credit.
“The US$ 2 billion LOC (line of credit) is the biggest credit line India has so far extended to any country,” said an Indian high commission statement, issued after the signing ceremony.
The Indian credit bears an interest rate of 1 per cent to be replayed in 20 years with a five-year grace period, it said.
Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Shahidul Haque and Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla, among others, witnessed the ceremony at the National Economic Council (NEC) Bhaban.
In a media briefing following the signing ceremony Mejbahuddin told newsmen that 14 projects so far were planned to be implemented with the second Indian LOC.
He said the projects under the credit would cover the power, railways, road, transportation, Information and Communication Technology, shipping, health and technical education sectors.
He said apart from infrastructural projects, there was a special focus on social sector cooperation pertaining to health and technical education aiming to integrate further economies of both the countries and strengthen mutual cooperation.
Responding a question, Mejbahuddin said under the agreement 25 percent Bangladeshi goods will be used in the implementation process while the receiving country would have stakes for 35 percent of the physical works of the projects.
The Indian envoy told the function that the two countries developed a functional joint mechanism in overseeing the implementation of the projects under the 2010 LOC and expected the arrangement to work well for the second LOC as well.
“All the 15 projects under the First LOC have received financial concurrence of EXIM Bank of
India. Seven of the total 15 projects have been completed and the rest are at various stages of implementation,” the Indian high commission statement read.
An ERD statement, meanwhile, said the “soft loan” committed under the second Indian LOC “will play a significant role in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh, which will be congenial for fostering the ongoing development partnership between the two countries”.
The first “Dollar Credit Line Agreement” for US$ 1 billion was signed between the two countries in 2010 for developing infrastructure projects, mostly in the communications sector.
