The Ministry of Finance has decided to disburse the first two installments of the total subscription fee of US$132.10 million for becoming the member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Official sources said Finance Minister AMA Muhith gave his consent to the allocation of $26.42 million in the last week of this fiscal year and next fiscal year, following the request made by the Economic Relations Division.
According to the approved summary, the government of Bangladesh will deposit Tk105.18 crore, which is equivalent to over $13 million for the fiscal year 2015-2016 while the next installment of Tk105.68 crore equivalent to more than $13 million will be deposited for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
Bangladesh has failed to become a founding member of the bank that was launched on January 15 in Beijing.
The failure was attributed to the lack of budgetary allocation and in absence of ratification of the membership plea in national parliament of Bangladesh.
Muhith, who had attended the AIIB launching ceremony as an observer, said: “The country would not miss the chance of becoming a founding member of the bank as ERD officials have become more active.”
He said steps had already been taken to complete the necessary formalities to join the bank soon.
On February 8, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill, 2016 was placed in the parliament to pay the amount of capital subscription.
Under the law, the country has to pay $132.10 million over the next 10 years as capital subscription on installment basis.
ERD officials said Bangladesh needed to pay overall $660.50 million as paid-up capital for 0.67 % share of the bank, fixed for each founding members on the basis of their gross domestic product.
The authorised capital of AIIB is $100 billion and the paid-up capital is $20 billion, to be subscribed by member countries based on their number of shares.
Out of total 57 countries, 30 countries including China, Germany, Australia, Austria, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Israel, South Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan and Nepal already ratified the bank’s articles of association.