France to give €150m to help deal with Covid-19 impacts
Foreign Aid
France will provide Bangladesh with €150 million in loan, equivalent to nearly Tk1,530 crore, to help households and individuals deal with social and economic consequences of Covid-19.
A credit facility agreement (CFA) was signed on Tuesday in the capital between the government and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
The public financial institution in France will disburse the fund through the "Cash Transfer Modernisation (Adaptive Social Protection) projects" implemented by the Ministry of Social Welfare.
As per the deal, the credit will be provided at an interest rate of Euribor 6 month plus 0.51%, with a repayment period of 20 years and a grace period of seven years.
This fund would constitute a proposed restructuring and additional financing of the ongoing World Bank supported Cash Transfer Modernisation project.
The AFD is a bilateral development agency extending support on behalf of the French government.
It has been operating in Bangladesh since 2012 and supporting development projects for urban infrastructures, power and green energy and corporate and social responsibility.
The agency provides concessional sovereign loans and mobilises grants under the regional blending facility of the European Union. It has a portfolio of €589.3 million in Bangladesh, of which the amount of grant is €7.3 million.
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