The World Bank is going to sit with government agencies next week for a review of the WB-assisted 17 poor-performing projects in Bangladesh.
Officials said Friday that the Bank executives will sit with the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the project-implementing agencies of the government in Dhaka on September 21-22 to take a close look at the status of those projects.
A senior ERD official said the WB has selected 22 development projects it is funding for a review next week.
Out of them, 17 are classed as poor performers for weak fund utilisation and physical progress. The rest five have been appreciated as better performers.
The global lender has already informed the ERD and government's implementing agencies about the poor show of those projects.
During the review, they would explore ways of "accelerating execution of the poor-performing projects", said an official at the WB Dhaka office.
The WB official told the FE that they had picked up 22 Bank-funded projects and already requested the ERD and relevant ministries to take preparation for the review.
The multilateral funding agency'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.
Out of the 22 projects, the WB identified some as "risky" due to their very unsatisfactory implementation progress, an ERD official told the FE.
Among the poor performers, the $195 million WB-funded Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) of the Election Commission project, $166 million Chittagong Water Supply Improvement, $76 million Dhaka Water Supply and Sanitation, and $35 million Disability and Children at Risk projects are notable.
Besides, the $120 million Investment Promotion and Financing Facility, $302 million Rural Transport Improvement Project-II, and $75 million Rural Water Supply project also have been categorised as the weak-performing ones among the ongoing projects.
Also listed as poor-performing some newly introduced projects. The $600 million rural electricity transmission and distribution project is one.
The ERD official said the World Bank has also expressed its dissatisfaction over a decrease in public investment in Bangladesh's heath sector.
"If government investment in the heath sector as percentage of GDP is lessened, the World Bank will rethink extending its funding in this important sector," he added.
The global lender also took exception to miss-procurement under some projects, the ERD official informed.
All these issues are expected to be discussed at the review meeting, he said. The lender has suggested speeding up the implementation or it (WB) would be forced to rethink its assistance.
Another ERD official said they would sit for the review meeting to remove obstacles in the process of project implementation. The projects are facing varies difficulties in different stages.
The WB helps Bangladesh develop its infrastructure and cut poverty. Increasing school enrolment, improving health status, expanding renewable energy access, and providing rural roads and water supply are the target areas of its assistance.
In the last fiscal (2013-14), the World Bank provided $950 million worth of assistance to bankroll such uplift works. Since independence, the World Bank has provided nearly US$17 billion to Bangladesh in development aid.
In March this year, the WB reviewed the projects where it is providing funds for execution in proper manner.
