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WB okays $250m for reforms

UNB, Dhaka
The World Bank (WB) yesterday approved an interest-free credit of $250 million for Bangladesh to go ahead with its strong programme of enterprise and banking reforms.
Announcing the credit approval the donor agency noted that Bangladesh has embarked upon a programme "to spur growth and increase opportunities for new employment by improving the environment for private sector investment".
The WB said the country made "slow but steady progress" in financial-sector reforms, including the strengthening of its central
bank.
The Enterprise Growth and Bank Modernisation Project will help the government move out of the industrial and financial sectors, spur the development of privatesector enterprise, and develop a competitive private banking system.
The project will support reform of the country's nationalised commercial banks--Rupali, Agrani, Janata and Sonali. It will also encourage the development of small enterprises while strengthening institutions like the Board of Investment, the Privatisation Commission, and the Bangladesh
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Export Processing Zones Authority.
The project will help the government convert some of its closed assets, such as the Adamjee Jute Mills and Chittagong Steel Mills, to productive uses, which can increase investment and employment.
It will also support privatisation and the divestiture of state-owned enterprises while ensuring a proper safety net for retired employees, the funding agency said.
"Bangladesh has had some great development success, but so far it is not significantly reducing poverty," said Simon Bell, manager of finance and private sector development for South Asia region in the World Bank.
"To do this, the country needs strong economic growth, the kind which can thrive only in the presence of a sound, healthy banking system and a dynamic private sector," the banker noted.
The total cost of the project is $ 480 million. Of this, the government will provide $142 million, the British Department for International Development $88 million, and the World Bank's International Development Association $250 million in an interest-free loan. The credit carries a 0.75 percent service charge and has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period.