Bangladesh never failed to repay loans in 51 years: Finance Minister
In its 51-year journey, Bangladesh has never failed to repay domestic and foreign debts, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said.
Bangladesh has one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world (at just 34%), the minister noted during a bilateral meeting with the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Masatsugu Asakawa, as part of the annual meeting of the ADB headquarters in Manila on Tuesday.
In the beginning of the meeting, the finance minister expressed his sincere appreciation for ADB's consideration of various situations in Bangladesh since its inception.
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He said currently, ADB's cumulative financing in Bangladesh stands at $27.6 billion, of which the total outstanding amount is $11.69 billion and that Bangladesh continues to repay the debt settlements.
The finance minister expressed his sincere gratitude and appreciation for the active and dynamic leadership of the ADB president in swift response to the unexpected shock of the Covid-19 crisis.
He also said the ADB has helped developing member countries including Bangladesh to recover from the economic and health crisis in Asia and the Pacific region by providing quick vaccines and cost assistance.
It is of utmost importance that the Bangladesh-ADB Country Partnership Strategy (2021-2025) is aligned with Bangladesh's national development and goals and it is expected to provide us with $12-15 billion in credit over the next five years, he added.
Highlighting Bangladesh's capabilities and progress, Mustafa Kamal said, "Under the visionary and prudent leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has made significant progress in all socio-economic indicators. The development of Bangladesh in recent times has been widely appreciated by the international community. Bangladesh has achieved an average GDP growth of 6.6% over the last 13 years."
"However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the current geopolitical crisis, food, energy, fertiliser, and financial crises have disrupted global supply chains and fueled inflation around the world.
"To ensure social and economic resilience, policy-based lending (PBL) is necessary in addition to budgetary support from ADB," he remarked.
The finance minister sought special cooperation of ADB in this regard and hoped that Bangladesh would also maintain close contact with the ADB headquarters.
