Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement of JPY 3000 crore (equivalent to BDT 2273 crore) with the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance, a press release said on Tuesday. The agreement was signed 27 June, at the NEC-2 Conference Room, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon, Dhaka, providing Japanese ODA (Official Development Assistance) loans as part of the Development Policy Loan for strengthening public financial management within Bangladesh.
The agreement has been signed by Sharifa Khan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division and Ichiguchi Tomohide, Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh. The event was witnessed by His Excellency Iwama Kiminori, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh.
Aimed toward the economic recovery of Bangladesh, this loan is a Budget Support Loan that is to be disbursed quickly. The development policy program for this loan will support the strengthening of public financial management capacity through increasing revenues and improving expenditure management of the Government of Bangladesh. The loan comes with an annual interest rate of 1.6 percent along a 30-year repayment period, including a 10-year grace period. Throughout the years, Japan has been Bangladesh’s largest bilateral development partner, with this financial assistance being yet another support towards the developmental efforts within the people and Government of the country.
