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Forex reserves set aside for Padma bridge

Muhith rejects businesses' plea for assistance from the reserves

Star Business Report
The government will use a portion of its foreign currency reserves for implementing the Padma bridge project, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said yesterday.
The minister gave the indication when textile millers sought assistance from the reserves to import capital machinery for new plants.
Muhith also said the foreign exchange reserves -now more than $18 billion - would not be used for any other purposes before the work orders for the bridge project are given to contractors.
As the government plans to give a number of work orders for the bridge project by June, it will not spend from the reserves for other purposes during this time, the minister told the leaders of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association.
The government looks to complete the bidding process by June and award contracts for three key components of the project - construction of the bridge, river training and appointment of a supervisory consultant.
The Bridges Division last month apprised the finance ministry of the present status of the three components and asked the ministry to decide on how to pay the contractors in foreign currency.
The Division is now evaluating the proposals for the construction of the bridge. It has also asked the bidders to submit proposals for river training by February 20 and those for the job of the supervisory consultant by March 18.
The Padma bridge is among the six projects that are under direct supervision of the Fast Track Project Monitoring Committee headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
It is the country's first project that will require more than $2 billion in foreign currency. The government has decided to fund the project on its own after the World Bank cancelled its $1.2 billion loans for the project in 2012 on grounds of a corruption conspiracy over the appointment of the supervisory consultant.
The Bridges Division also recommended holding an inter-ministerial meeting to be chaired by the finance minister to determine the modality of payment in foreign currency.
According to the Division's current estimates, the total cost of the bridge project is Tk 20,507 crore or $2.56 billion, of which $2.03 billion would be needed in foreign currency.
About 15 percent of the required foreign currency has to be paid in advance at the time of awarding a contract, an official of the Division said.