The Executive Board of the French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement - AFD) has recently approved a Concessional Loan of 150 million euro to support the People's Republic of Bangladesh with its cash transfer programmes and Covid-19 responsiveness.
The loan will contribute towards the World Bank supported Cash Transfer Modernisation Project which seeks to improve the transparency and efficiency of selected cash transfer programmes for vulnerable populations by modernising service delivery.
It would also support government efforts to address the social and economic consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic, said a media release received today (Thursday).
The project will be co-financed by AFD and the World Bank (as a lead Partner), and includes three components, i.e. (1) Enhancement of Cash Transfer Programmes, which incentivises actions towards improving the business processes under selected cash transfer programmes; (2) Modernisation of Service Delivery, which provides technical assistance to support the enhancements of technology assets, utilise integrated information systems for targeting and payment, improve citizen engagement, and strengthen the capacity of human resources, and (3) Contingent Emergency Response (CER) to allow project financing to be mobilised rapidly in response to a natural or human-induced shock, disaster or crisis.
The CER component will support government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The loan will provide co-financing of the Old Age Allowance programme of the Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) and Department of Social Services (DSS) until 2023, the release added.
It will directly benefit the country’s most vulnerable populations who are beneficiaries of this and other Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) cash transfer programmes, as well as non-beneficiaries who may qualify for these programmes.