The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) supplied €183.5 million as loans and grants to Bangladesh in 2022 against the approved amount of €278.3 million.
With this, total disbursement reached €313 million against €609 million approved by the AFD Board and €543-million loans and grants signed during 2021-22, reads an AFD press release issued on Tuesday.
"AFD has become a major development partner of Bangladesh," it said, adding that this was a crucial step, which came after 10 years of operation and over 20 projects financed here.
The totals for the cumulative years 2021-22 are €609-million loans and grants approved by the AFD Board and €543-million loans and grants signed.
The AFD and the Economic Relations Division signed a host-country agreement for the establishment of AFD activities here, a successful outcome of years of negotiations between French and Bangladesh governments.
"AFD has more than doubled the amount of its financing in the course of the last three years. This only bears witness to the trust between our two countries, France and Bangladesh," said AFD country director for Bangladesh, Benoit Chassatte.
He hoped cooperation between the AFD and the ERD would continue for the benefit of the citizens of Bangladesh.
In total, since the start of its operation in Bangladesh in 2012/2013, the AFD has approved a cumulated amount of €1,420-million concessional loans and grants for the country.
In Bangladesh, the AFD operates in diverse sectors, including energy, water, sanitation, public transport, health, safety and social protection. These projects present a high level of climate benefit.
The AFD finances projects owned by the government, state-owned companies or municipalities.
Industries in the private sector can benefit from concessional loans from the AFD through credit lines to state-owned banks or financial institutions such as Bangladesh Bank, IDCOL or BIFFL.
It maintains close ties with several other development partners such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union, KfW and EIB.
A number of projects are co-financed with one or more of those institutions.
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