The World Bank (WB) Saturday said it will scale up lending, including budgetary support to Bangladesh, local newspaper The Financial Express reported Sunday.
"We're actively considering increasing lending to Bangladesh, although it will depend on the success of our drive to mobilize funds from the world's wealthy countries," Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam quoted visiting WB President Robert Zoellick as saying.
The finance adviser Saturday had a formal meeting with Zoellick, who is visiting Bangladesh as part of his "global listening tour."
The finance chief noted that WB itself would inject 3.5 billion U.S. dollars from its own source into the International Development Association (IDA), the bank's soft-lending arm, in a move to help continue its anti-poverty mission.
Islam also pointed out Zoellick held out the assurance of extending 130 million U.S. dollars in loan for the post-floods reconstruction project in Bangladesh. Bangladesh suffered the most serious flood this year since 1998. The Washington-based lender has already provided 75 million U.S. dollars as budgetary support, he added.
The WB president, who is now in the city on the last leg of his South Asian tour which also includes Pakistan and India, also expressed its interest to take up a Coastal Zone Management Project to help Bangladesh respond to the climatic change.
Islam noted that he had sought the bank's support for power, road, Padma Bridge which will be the biggest bridge in the country, health and education sectors.
Zoellick arrived here Saturday evening in a chartered flight. He is scheduled to meet caretaker government Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus Sunday.
Zoellick is scheduled to leave Dhaka Sunday night.
Source:Xinhua
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