Bangladesh government has sought extended financial and technical supports from foreign development partners to weather the economic shocks stemming from the Gulf crisis and to accelerate implementation of its election pledges, officials say.
Formal requests for the support were despatched to a broad coalition of multilateral and bilateral lenders recently, officials from the Economic Relations Division (ERD) told the FE Saturday. The list of financiers includes the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), German lender KfW, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
The Finance Adviser to the Prime Minister, Dr Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, sat with Bangladesh's development partners in Dhaka in the just-past last month to convince the development partners about the urgency.
At the meeting, some of the DPs assured of supporting the government in implementing its poll manifesto and overcome the exigencies, the ERD officials say.
The move comes as the government seeks to "weather the impact" of volatility in the Gulf region, which has significant implications for Bangladesh's energy costs and remittance inflows.
Beyond crisis management, the funding is intended to provide the fiscal space necessary to execute the socioeconomic promises laid out in the government's recent election manifesto.
"After the meeting, we have formally written to the DPs to help Bangladesh," says one official.
According to the ERD officials, the ADB and the WB have already assured of extending their budget support to Bangladesh amid the current gulf crisis.
Although the ADB earlier had assured of some US$750 million worth of budgetary support for Bangladesh within this fiscal year (FY), 2025-26, it now assured of enhancing the proposed financing to $1.0 billion following Bangladesh's request, says a senior ERD official.
The World Bank is expected to provide at least $500 million worth of budget support to help weather the Gulf crisis as well as meet the immediate needs of the newly elected government, especially for the social-safety-net programmes and reforms, he adds.
"In addition to our traditional bilateral and multilateral donors, we have already requested some non-traditional ones, including KFW, OFID, AIIB and Middle-eastern countries, to offer financial and technical supports to Bangladesh," the ERD official says.
In a proactive bid to secure these commitments, Dr Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir held a high-level meeting with representatives of the development partners in Dhaka last month.
Sources privy to the discussions note that the Finance Adviser underscored the urgency of the situation, emphasizing the need for both concessional loans and technical cooperation to maintain the country's growth trajectory.
The ERD officials indicate that the requested support would be channeled into several key areas, including macroeconomic stabilization, offsetting the rising costs of fuel and commodities linked to the Gulf turmoil, advancing megaprojects and regional-connectivity initiatives in line with national development goals.
The government has also sought support in the social-safety-net programmes for ensuring the election manifesto's focus on poverty reduction and social protection, say the officials.
While the development partners have historically been supportive of Bangladesh's developmental journey, the scale of this coordinated request highlights the complexity of the current global economic climate, they add.
"The government is looking for a comprehensive partnership to not only overcome immediate hurdles but to build a more resilient Bangladesh," another ERD official says, indicating newer economic development recipes.
"The discussions led by Dr Titumir were a crucial step in aligning our development partners with our national priorities."
The ERD is expected to engage in follow-up technical negotiations with individual lenders in the coming weeks to finalize the volumes and terms of the prospective aid packages, he adds.
