The government decided Monday to speed up the slow moving World Bank-funded projects in Bangladesh to receive continuous financial supports from the multilateral lender, officials said.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials said Monday since a number of world Bank-funded projects, out of 22 selected ones, are performing poor, the Washington-based lender has asked the government agencies concerned to expedite their execution.
Presided over by the ERD additional secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam, the World Bank (WB) Dhaka office concluded a two-day joint tripartite portfolio review of the 22 selected Bank-supported projects at the ERD office in Dhaka on the day.
The review highlighted the successes of high performing projects, monitored rate of implementation of projects that have been recently restructured, reviewed implementation challenges for slow moving projects, and agreed upon time-bound action plans with a view to improving performance and accelerating disbursements, WB Dhaka office said in a statement.
The slow moving projects are: $166 million WB-funded Chittagong Water Supply Improvement, $120 million Investment Promotion and Financing Facility and $35 million Disability and Children at Risk, officials said.
The WB said the review meeting also discussed the preparation status of 11 planned projects, including new operations and additional financing to scale up existing projects in the health and education sectors.
The Washington-based lender has said a total of $1.7 billion worth of fresh assistance to Bangladesh in FY 2015 is likely to be confirmed, said the Bank statement.
The WB's current portfolio in Bangladesh consists of 42 projects (including 11 projects under the trust fund) with a commitment of nearly $7.0 billion worth of loans and grants.
Since independence, the Bank has committed more than $18.6 billion, which accounts for 29 per cent of the total foreign aid the country has received so far.
The Washington-based lender disbursed $944 million loans and grants in the last FY2013-14. The Bank disbursed $ 84.5 million in the first two months of the current financial year (July-August 2014) which is higher compared to previous years.
Mr Azam said: "The external assistance can be an important instrument to catalyze development, but it needs to be managed effectively to all its benefits."
"The Tripartite Portfolio Review is an excellent opportunity to highlight key issues and agree on critical actions to enhance performance and achieve results," said Christine Kimes, Operations Advisor, World Bank Bangladesh.
The WB support has helped Bangladesh achieve remarkable progress in many areas such as increasing school enrolment, improving health, expanding renewable energy, and providing infrastructure like rural roads and water supply.
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