The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is considering providing grant support to help Bangladesh tackle the Rohingya crisis, a senior ADB official told the FE Tuesday.
"Based on the request from the government of Bangladesh, the ADB will consider providing a substantial amount of grant support, as an exceptional case, to refugees as well as host communities in close collaboration with the government and the World Bank", he quoted ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash as saying.
The amount and date were yet to be confirmed, the official mentioned.
A team from the ADB led by its country director visited Cox's Bazar on the day to identify the scope and areas of a project to be developed jointly with the government, he said.
The assistance may be used to meet the basic needs of over 1.0 million Rohingya refugees, as well as the host communities, the ADB official added.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao recently said the Manila-based multilateral lender was willing to provide its support for Bangladesh to help it cope with the Rohingya crisis.
"We are aware of the socio-economic impacts and humanitarian aspects of Rohingya crisis. And the ADB is ready to provide its support to this effect," he said in reply to a question raised by an FE correspondent at a press briefing during the recently-held 51st annual meeting of the ADB Board of Governors in Manila.
"We are waiting for the request from the Bangladesh government," the ADB head said.
When his attention was drawn to the observations made by the ADB president, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who attended the ADB meeting, told the FE that he would seek grant assistance from the ADB during his meeting with Mr Takehiko Nakao.
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