WB to do more to help develop transport, energy infrastructure

Bangladesh and World Bank (WB) have agreed to do more to develop the country's transport and energy infrastructure as well as to continue the dialogue on necessary reforms that would merit a Development Policy Credit (DPC), said a WB statement on Sunday.
They reached the consensus during a meeting between Finance Minister AMA Muhith and WB Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Sri Mulyani Indrawati in Washington on Friday on the sidelines of the Spring meetings of WB and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Bangladesh's success in overcoming poverty is critical for eliminating extreme global poverty and boosting shared prosperity," said Mr Indrawati.
"Limited energy and poor-quality transport infrastructure are key constraints to growth. We will work with the government of Bangladesh in removing these bottlenecks that slow economic growth and trap many of the country's people in poverty," the WB top executive added.
Mr Muhith said, "We had an in-depth and intensive discussion with WB about the challenges Bangladesh faces and the country's huge potential, if these can be overcome."
"We intend to work with WB to improve the country's infrastructure and to further discuss the possibility of a DPC, so that we can provide more opportunity to our people." "In addition to giving high priorities to energy and transportation in recent years, the government is also giving equal importance and attention to education, health, sanitation and housing sectors," the finance minister added.
Bangladesh joined International Development Association (IDA), WB's soft lending arm for the poorest countries, in 1972, one year after the independence.
Since then, IDA has provided more than $18 billion in support for policy reforms and investment projects in human development, infrastructure, private sector, governance, and rural development.
Currently, Bangladesh is the largest recipient under the 17th replenishment of IDA. The country has an indicative total allocation of about $3.9 billion, or 9.0 per cent of all resources in the IDA 17th cycle, which spans fiscal years 2015-2017.
    mazizur.rahman@outlook.com