The Bangladesh Aid Club meeting in Paris will now be held in the second week of July instead of its usual April schedule as the donors would like to wait for the post-election government. well placed sources said yesterday.

The total aid pledge at the meeting to tie chaired by the World Bank (WB) in its European headquarters in Paris, will be determined only after the donors learn about the agenda of the new government after election and "take account of its policies and priorities." government officials said.

The work on the Bank's Country Economic Memo-

randum (CEM) which will contain recent economic development as well as proposed reform agenda has not yet taken off and will presumably start from January. WB officials said.

The date has been fixed ... so that the new government gets time to prepare Its position." > said Pierre Landell-Mills. WB chief in Dhaka.

The donors are waiting for the polls to see the policy outcome of the winning party as a basis for deciding their aid strategy for fiscal 1996-97. he said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is witnessing a low level of foreign assistance commitment this year because of — as the

donors put it — "the declining aid climate.'1

Until November, only 360 million dollars were commit ted as against 521 million dollars during the same period last year.

The total pledge in the Paris meet for fiscal 1995-96 was 1.95 billion dollars.

This year's commitment include 106 million dollars from Germany and 159 trill-lion dollars from ADB. according to a government count.

Two major donors to Bangladesh, the WB and Japan are expected to commit around 200 million dollars later. Finance Ministry “T are not likely."

It doubted the commitment to reforms and said "resumption of rapid reforms after the election is by no means ensured, even if the present government wins the elections."

officials, said adding that Japanese commitment this year is likely to be at a lower level than usual.

Government officials said that delay in project preparation and processing .and nonfulfillment of donors' conditionalities as the two major reasons behind such shrinkage. besides the political problems.

"The delay cropped up from the current stagnation in the country's political process." a top ranking official told The Daily Star.

The government could not go ahead with a number of reform programmes conditioned by the donors, the official said on condition of anonymity. These Include Jute Sector Reform Programme, privatisation of a number of textile mills, privatisation of the telecommunications sector and contracting out of WASA billing svslem, he added.

Earlier, the WB's Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) signaled that the Bank would adjust its work programme "if. after the elections, we see signs that renewed reforms.