Dhaka Bureau: In the last 50 years, the Asian Development Bank has given a loan of 21.1 billion US dollars to Bangladesh, according to Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. He gave this information in a meeting with ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa at a hotel in the capital.
After the meeting, a statement sent from the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday (March 14) said that ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa visited Bangladesh on Sunday (March 12) to celebrate 50 years of partnership between Bangladesh and ADB. He will stay in Bangladesh till March 16.
During this visit, ADB President David Malpass held a meeting with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal at a hotel in the capital on Monday. The Finance Minister termed the day a great day to celebrate 50 years of partnership between Bangladesh and ADB.
In the meeting, the finance minister said that ADB has pledged 28.4 billion US dollars for Bangladesh in the last 50 years. Against this promise, Bangladesh has received USD 21.1 billion to date and has so far repaid USD 6.5 billion as principal. Now, our outstanding debt with ADB is USD 14.6 billion, which is about 24 percent of the government’s total external debt. Over the years, Bangladesh has become the third-largest recipient of ADB financing.
In a speech describing the economic progress and capacity of Bangladesh, the Finance Minister said that our development has reached a new height under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the last 14 years. As a result, Bangladesh has now been identified as a ‘global role model’ for development. Whereas in 1972, our GDP was only 6.3 billion dollars. It took almost 38 years to cross the $100 billion milestone in 2009. And now our GDP has reached 460 billion dollars. Bangladesh has become the 35th largest economy in the world.
He also said that we hope that Bangladesh will become one of the “top 20 economies’ by 2041. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, our vision now is to build a “smart Bangladesh’ by 2041. I strongly believe that ADB will play one of the most important roles in the implementation of “Smart Bangladesh’ in the coming years.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa praised Bangladesh’s economic progress and capabilities. He expressed the hope that ADB will always be on Bangladesh’s side in the future to restore the social and economic security of Bangladesh and overcome the corona epidemic.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rauf Talukdar and National Revenue Board Chairman Abu Hena Md. were also present in the meeting. Rahmatul Munim, Finance Department Senior Secretary Fatema Yasmin, Financial Institutions Department Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Salim Ullah, and Economic Relations Department Secretary Sharifa Khan On behalf of ADB, South Asia Division Director General Kenichi Yokoyama, Alternate Executive Director Azizul Alam, and ADB Bangladesh Country Director Edimon Ginty were present in the meeting.
