The Asian Development Bank (ADB) emerged as the top lender to Bangladesh, confirming US$2.08 billion worth of assistance in the just-concluded fiscal year (FY 2021-22), officials said on Tuesday.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is the second-biggest lender in FY '22, followed by the World Bank (WB), which was the top lender previously, they said.
According to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) data, the ADB made a commitment of $2.08 billion in loans and grants from July 2021 to May 2022, $543 million higher than $1.54 billion confirmed by the WB during the period while the JICA confirmed $1.78 billion.
"Over the last few years, the ADB has been coming forward with higher lending to Bangladesh's different projects. Many of the projects are very important and mega ones," said a senior ERD official.
The Manila-based lender in a single deal provided $940 million worth of loan in June 2021 for purchasing coronavirus vaccines.
In August 2021, the top lender also approved a $1.78 billion multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) to improve mobility, road safety, and regional trade along the Dhaka-Sylhet trade corridor in Bangladesh.
It also provided some $500 million worth of budgetary support to weather the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Bangladesh's economy during the last FY.
Currently, the ADB has been bankrolling some mega projects like the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Ramu-Ghundum railway line, Joydevpur-Elenga 4-lane road, Elenga-Rangpur 4-lane road and Dhaka-Sylhet 4-lane road development projects.
Meanwhile, it confirmed $1.65 billion in the previous FY '21 and $1.79 billion in FY '20, ERD data showed.
The number of ADB-funded total ongoing projects in Bangladesh would be 57 where it has confirmed $10.84 billion worth of assistance over the last few years.
Another ERD official said that although the WB was the largest development partner of Bangladesh previously, the ADB has emerged as the largest partner.
Its top position may continue in the future as there are some big loans in its planned portfolio, he said.
The ADB, for the next four years between 2022 and 2025, has also assured Bangladesh of providing $11.71 billion worth of loans and grants.
It means the lender has a plan to provide $2.92 billion worth of assistance on an average per year between the calendar years 2022 and 2025, ERD officials said.
However, the ADB's loan is getting costlier as most of it is the LIBOR-based loans.
