Foreign aid flow to Bangladesh during the first three quarters of the current fiscal (FY14, 2013-14), at $ 2171.41 million, has been somewhat higher than the corresponding figure for the last fiscal (FY13, 2012-13) when it was $ 1908.61 million.
Of the amount disbursed during the nine-month period covering July to March during FY14, loans amounted to $ 1,614.45 million, while grants clock in at $ 556.96 million, said an official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
The official said that the total disbursement of foreign aid of $ 1,908.61 million for July-March of the last fiscal comprises $ 509.41 million in grants and $ 1,399.21 million in loans.
The official said that the overall commitment of foreign aid for the first three quarters of FY14 was, however, lower than in FY13 — $ 2,903.89 million ( $ 2459.70 million as loans, $ 444.19 million in grants), down from $ 5433.67 million (Loans- $ 4865.94 million, Grants $ 567.73 million)
During this nine-month period, the repayment stood at $ 862.51 million including $ 701.20 million against principal amount and $ 161.32 million as interest.
However, the repayment for the same period of the last fiscal (FY13) was $ 880.32 million including $ 720.79 million against principal amount and $ 159.53 million as interest.
Of the major multilateral and bilateral donors for July-March in FY14, the World Bank provided the highest amount of $ 679.91 million followed by ADB $ 382.51 million, Japan $ 344.78 million, UN system $ 114.57 million, China $ 223.40 million and India $ 87.93 million.
According to ERD, although the foreign aid flow to Bangladesh in FY13 was around $ 3,140 million lower than committed, aid disbursement had grown, to $ 2,786.13 million, from $ 2,126.47 million in the previous fiscal (2011-12).
The commitment for FY13 was much higher at $ 5,926.05 million compared to $ 4,764.52 million during the same period of the previous fiscal (FY12).
Of the disbursed amount of $ 2,786.13 million for FY13, Bangladesh received $ 2134.3 million in loans and $ 651.7 million as grants.
Of the disbursed amount for FY13, the IDA of the World Bank provided the highest amount of $ 901.9 million. This was followed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) $ 670.4 million, JICA $ 630.4 million, the UN system’s $ 203.9 million, IDB $ 10.2 million, and the EU $ 68.0 million.
Source: UNB Connect
