The central bank will make available more funds shortly to the country's problem-ridden power sector under the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) Project.
"We are now working to disburse more funds to three power projects through two private commercial banks and a financial institution shortly," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Monday.
He also said three small power projects (SPP) will add at least 44 Megawatt (MW) of electricity to the national grid.
The central bank earlier identified the power sector as a priority one for financing under the project, funded by the World Bank (WB), to meet the growing mismatch between demand for, and supply of, power.
The BB official said the IPFF has been designed for long-term financing of infrastructure projects -- mainly in energy, power, communications and ports sectors.
The Dhaka Bank Limited will finance the Doreen Power Generations and Systems Limited to set up an 11MW SPP at Feni while the Eastern Bank Limited is to provide loan to the Regent Power Limited for setting up a 22MW power plant in Chittagong, officials said.
The IDLC Finance Limited, a leading financial institution, will finance the Energy Pack Confident Power Venture Limited to generate 11MW power at Hobigonj, they added.
On July 23 last, the central bank signed an agreement with the National Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank Limited under which the latter will receive a loan worth US$24 million from the World Bank supported project.
The World Bank earlier approved $50.0 million IPFF Project for long-term financing of infrastructure projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework.
The criteria for disbursement of the fund have already been set by the authorities concerned to ensure public-private participation in infrastructural development.
Under the existing provisions, funds are disbursed on the basis of 70:30 debt-equity ratio. The central bank provides 56 per cent of the total loanable fund and the rest 14 per cent will have to be invested by the banks or the financial institutions concerned.
