$290m WB loan to strengthen local govt

FE Report The World Bank (WB) board Wednesday approved US$290 million concessional loan to Bangladesh to help country's local government strengthen all its 4,504 Union Parishads (UPs). The Washington-based lender has approved the loan following a successful implementation of the first phase of the Local Government Support Project (LGSP) of the government, a statement from the WB headquarters said. It said the WB's assistance will benefit Bangladesh's 135 million people as it will upgrade the accountability and transparency of the UPs. Officials said the LGSP-II will continue to support Bangladesh's decentralisation efforts through provision of direct block grants to the UPs for financing local development projects. The project supports rigorous audits and open budget presentations to create greater transparency and good governance. A key new feature under the LGSP II is the introduction of performance-based grants in addition to expanding the amounts and coverage under the current block grants supported by initial project. Recognising the major contribution of women to local level development, it earmarks about 30 percent of the grants for local schemes for them. "The World Bank is committed to support Bangladesh's decentralisation reforms and remains a longstanding partner in the efforts to strengthen local government which play a vital role in enhancing domestic accountability and participatory development," said WB country director in Bangladesh Ms. Ellen Goldstein.