World Bank approves $500 million budget support for Bangladesh

The World Bank has approved $500 million budget support for Bangladesh, which is equivalent to about 6,000 crore taka in Bangladeshi currency.

The loan was approved at a board meeting held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington on Saturday (June 21).

The money will be used to improve transparency, accountability and stability in Bangladesh’s financial sector. According to a World Bank press release, the money will be spent mainly on reforming government revenue collection, increasing transparency in tax policy, strengthening risk management in the banking sector and preventing corruption in government services by introducing e-procurement.

Earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $500 million in budget support. As a result, Bangladesh is going to receive about $1 billion in budget support by June 30.

In addition, Bangladesh is likely to receive $1.3 billion in two loan installments at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting next Monday.