Aziz hopes CG's fiscal steps to continue after polls

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Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam Thursday expressed the hope that the next elected government would continue the financial and fiscal policy measures taken by the caretaker government (CG) during the last two years, reports UNB.
"I've not received any opposition from the political parties to the reform measures we brought during this period. So, I hope, the parties will carry on the reforms," he told reporters, after a meeting with visiting ADB senior executive Kunio Senga at the Planning Ministry.
The Adviser stressed that there had been no difference between the caretaker government and political governments on basic development strategies.
The Finance Adviser shared the view with Asian Development Bank (ADB) director general for South Asia Kunio Senga, who inquired about on how the ADB would engage in enhanced budgetary support to Bangladesh during the next political regime.
Dr Aziz said the ADB executive was particularly interested whether the policy measures would continue during the next elected government, as the development bank found that the policy support helped Bangladesh receive substantially increased development credit.
During the last two years, the ADB credit to Bangladesh increased to $2.0 billion, which is 50 per cent higher than the corresponding period of previous years.
Dr Aziz said the ADB loan approval increased by 113 per cent and disbursement increased by 60 per cent during the last two years due to efficient implementation of the ADB-supported projects.
"They (ADB) expressed satisfaction over the implementation performance, and also assured of enhanced support, including budgetary support, if necessary," he said.
The Finance Adviser said the ADB executive also discussed the possible ways of increasing ADB's general capital to balance the capital requirement against the increased demand for loans. As ADB mobilises funds from outside with its high rating of "AAA", they need to balance the capital adequacy against the target, he explained. He added that if there is capital shortfall, their credit rating would be downgraded.