COMMITMENT of loans and grants made by the country’s overseas lenders and development partners declined by 26 per cent in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year compared to that of the same months of the last fiscal year, according to the data of the Economic Relations Division of the Finance Ministry. Foreign loans and grants disbursement, however, increased by slightly less than one percent in July-April of the fiscal year 2014-15 compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, the data showed.ERD data released on Wednesday showed that international lenders and donors committed to provide Bangladesh a total of US$ 2,557.50 million in loans and grants in July-April period of the current fiscal year. In the same period of previous year, they had committed to give US$ 3,458.40 million in loans and grants. In July-April, the amount of foreign loans and grants disbursed by international lenders and development partners rose by only US$ 17.47 million. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, they disbursed US$ 2,387 million which was US$ 2,369.59 million in the same months of the last fiscal year, the data showed.Officials of the ERD said that both the amounts of commitment and disbursement would increase further in the last two months as some international lenders including the World Bank was supposed to sign new agreements by this time while the flow of disbursement usually increases in the last few months in line with increased rate of implementation of Annual Development Programme (ADP). According to ERD data, repayment of principal and interest amounts of previous years’ loans decreased in the period. The government repaid US$ 964.52 million as principal and interest of previous years’ loans in July-April of the current fiscal year. Of which, US$ 803.7 million was principal amount while US$ 168 million was interest amount. In July-April of last fiscal year, the government had repaid US$ 1,088.82 million as principal and interest amounts.The current scenario could have been caused by many reasons. International bodies could have a perception of Bangladesh not yet being in a stable political situation. Another reason may be the government itself has not proved competent enough for gaining the confidence of the donors and investors for safe investment. The government has been too busy to prove how powerful against the opposition. The fact is that there are opportunities for financial cooperation and foreign investment as never before, but it is for us to take advantage by creating appropriate conditions in the country. The government may not know how chaotic the administration is, but the others know.
