$535m WB loans for improving municipal services, higher edn

The World Bank (WB) has, for the first time, come forward to help the newly elected government as it made commitment to provide more than half a billion dollar worth of funds for improving the country's municipal services and higher education.
The Washington-based lender signed two financing deals totalling US$ 535 million in Dhaka Monday with the Awami League-led government, which faced criticism from the western world for holding a non-participatory election on January 5 last.
The WB will provide $ 410 million for the Municipal Governance and Services Project and $ 125 million additional funds for the ongoing Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and WB Country Director in Bangladesh Johannes Zutt signed two separate deals for the loans.
The credit from the WB's concessional lending arm -- International Development Association (IDA) -- has 40 years to maturity, including a 10-year grace period, and carries a service charge of 0.75 per cent.
The Municipal Governance and Services Project would work to improve the municipal governance and basic urban services in the urban local bodies located along growth corridors from Dhaka towards Chittagong, Rangpur, Sylhet and Mymensingh.
The project aims to benefit some 3.4 million people in municipalities across the country, of whom 45 per cent will be women.
Through a demand-driven approach, the project will build roads, water and sanitation systems, markets, bus terminals, and municipal service centres in these communities. Further, the project will strengthen the urban local bodies to be able to undertake immediate response operations in times of major emergencies.
The additional financing to the ongoing Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project that started in 2009 will continue to support enhancement of quality and relevance of higher education. The project aims to introduce innovation, accountability and better research facilities in public and private universities.  
The additional financing will continue to promote academic innovation through a competitive funding mechanism, known as the Academic Innovation Fund. The project has already awarded 194 academic innovation funds to 27 public and two private universities.
"Bangladesh's vision for becoming a middle-income country is ambitious, but not impossible. To achieve this goal, it will need to boost its competitiveness and grow at an even faster pace than the last decade", said the WB country director.  
Mr Mejbahuddin said: "The Sixth Five Year Plan (2011-15) has emphasised addressing service delivery deficiency in local urban bodies as well as creating a knowledge society by producing skilled tertiary education graduates."