We are in ground-zero situation, CA tells ADB delegation

Asian Development Bank (ADB) South Asia Director-General Takeo Konishi on Sunday said there was room for policy-based lending to Bangladesh as the interim government stepped up efforts to stabilise the economy.
He also said the ADB had a long history of working in Bangladesh and would be keen to support the interim government to initiate vital structural reforms in the country.
The delegation of the ADB, led by Takeo Konishi, called on the Chief Adviser at the State guesthouse Jamuna.
During the meeting, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus said, "We're in a ground-zero situation. Everything needs to be done as quickly as possible."
The Chief Adviser said the student-led revolution gave Bangladesh a new opportunity to rebuild the institutions "piece by piece."
During the meeting, the government's newly launched financial-sector reforms, key economic issues such as digitisation of the tax data, data transparency, energy, private sector, and investment were discussed.
Chief Adviser's special envoy on international affairs, Lutfey Siddiqi, observed that dynamics on the foreign-exchange market and its interplay with reserves and remittances are already showing signs of improvement.
"There is a noticeable uplift in confidence and credibility on that front," Chief Adviser's press wing quoted Siddiqi as saying.
Senior secretary and the head of SDG affairs Lamiya Morshed, senior adviser of ADB Edimon Ginting, country director designate Hoe Yun Jeong and deputy country director Jiangbo Ning were present at the meeting.

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