WB, PDB review progress in power sector reforms

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S M Jahangir
The government in cooperation with the multilateral funding agencies has speeded up the process of implementing the medium-term reforms programme in the country's power sector.
A meeting was held Wednesday between the Power Division and the World Bank to review the progress and discuss the next course of actions for successful implementation of the reform agenda, sources said.
Senior officials from the Power Division and the WB were present at the meeting, which was held at the secretariat with the Power Secretary M. Fouzul Kabir Khan in the chair.
"After reviewing the implementation progress, the taskforce emphasised the need for accelerating the execution of the reform-strategy", a meeting source informed the FE.
The source also informed FE that it was also decided to hold another meeting in August to apprise the development partners on the half-yearly implementation progress of the reforms programme.
The government in mid 2006 adopted the programme styled "Three-year Roadmap for Power Sector Reform" in line with recommendations of major multilateral donors including the WB and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The key objective of the reform strategy is to make the state-owned power entities operationally sound and commercially viable, officials said.
Earlier, a high-profile taskforce on implementation of 'Power sector roadmap' at its meeting on March last advised the authorities concerned to expedite the execution of the medium-term reforms initiatives.
Official sources said the roadmap aims to streamline operation, distribution, and transmission of the state-run power agencies.