Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) repaid Tk 475.25 crore to the interim government as the first installment of a loan it took from the government and Exim Bank of China in 2016 to purchase six ships.
A press release said that representatives of the BSC handed over the cheque to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at his office on Tuesday.
The Finance Division of the Bangladesh government signed an agreement with Exim Bank of China in 2016 to purchase six ships for the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC).
A press release said that on October 27 of the same year, BSC signed a Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) with the Finance Division to repay the loan amount, which is Tk1,457 crore.
The BSC is supposed to repay the government a total of Tk2,425 crore, which includes the principal amount and interest of the loan, in several installments over a period of 13 years.
Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, adviser to the finance, Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, adviser to the shipping ministry, Mohammad Yousuf, secretary to the shipping ministry, and Commodore Mahmudul Malek, managing director of the BSC, among others, were present at the cheque handover ceremony.
The loan deal enabled the BSC to add commercial ships to its fleet for the first time in 27 years in the financial year 2018-19.
Of them, five ships are now carrying goods across different oceans using the Bangladesh flag.
The BSC has undertaken several other projects, including procuring eight more vessels from China under the G2G method, including four mother vessels.