Bangladesh to get $170m ADB emergency food assistance
FE Report | Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Bangladesh is receiving a US$ 170-million worth of credit from the Asian Development Board (ADB) for helping cope with the current soaring food prices and ensure greater access to food for the people, badly hit by recent natural disasters.
An agreement to this effect was signed Monday between the government of Bangladesh and the Manila-based multilateral lending agency in Dhaka, the ADB sources said.
The Economic Relations Division (ERD) Joint Secretary Monwara Begum and Officer-in-Charge of ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission Nurul Huda signed the loan agreement on behalf their respective sides at the ERD office in the city, said an ADB press release.
Senior officials from the ADB and ERD were also present at the ceremony, sources said.
"The assistance will help the government ensure access to food for those hardest hit by recent natural disasters in Bangladesh and mitigate the rapid increase in the food prices," the ADB news release said.
According to it, the loan will be a part of the government's $1.29-billion broader food security package, which is being supported by ADB and other international agencies.
The ADB is also providing a $600,000 grant to help the government improve its ability to plan and undertake medium-and long-term interventions to improve food security, it mentioned.
The ADB's assistance will provide short-term transitional support to help the government meet unexpected high expenditures for safety-net programmes based on the needs assessment conducted jointly with other development partners, said the ADB source.
Bangladesh is the first developing member-country to receive ADB support after the announcement made during the institution's 41st Annual Meeting in May by its President Haruhiko Kuroda of the provision of up to $500 million in immediate budgetary support to the hardest hit countries in Asia and the Pacific, and an increase in lending for agriculture and rural development to more than $2 billion in 2009, it noted.
Bangladesh, a net importer of food grains, was severely affected by two floods and a devastating cyclone in the second half of 2007, causing a rice production shortfall of 1.2 million tonnes and adversely affecting the food security of an estimated 25 million people, said the ADB.
An agreement to this effect was signed Monday between the government of Bangladesh and the Manila-based multilateral lending agency in Dhaka, the ADB sources said.
The Economic Relations Division (ERD) Joint Secretary Monwara Begum and Officer-in-Charge of ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission Nurul Huda signed the loan agreement on behalf their respective sides at the ERD office in the city, said an ADB press release.
Senior officials from the ADB and ERD were also present at the ceremony, sources said.
"The assistance will help the government ensure access to food for those hardest hit by recent natural disasters in Bangladesh and mitigate the rapid increase in the food prices," the ADB news release said.
According to it, the loan will be a part of the government's $1.29-billion broader food security package, which is being supported by ADB and other international agencies.
The ADB is also providing a $600,000 grant to help the government improve its ability to plan and undertake medium-and long-term interventions to improve food security, it mentioned.
The ADB's assistance will provide short-term transitional support to help the government meet unexpected high expenditures for safety-net programmes based on the needs assessment conducted jointly with other development partners, said the ADB source.
Bangladesh is the first developing member-country to receive ADB support after the announcement made during the institution's 41st Annual Meeting in May by its President Haruhiko Kuroda of the provision of up to $500 million in immediate budgetary support to the hardest hit countries in Asia and the Pacific, and an increase in lending for agriculture and rural development to more than $2 billion in 2009, it noted.
Bangladesh, a net importer of food grains, was severely affected by two floods and a devastating cyclone in the second half of 2007, causing a rice production shortfall of 1.2 million tonnes and adversely affecting the food security of an estimated 25 million people, said the ADB.