The finance minister has welcomed the World Bank’s a record-high $950 million disbursement of aid inflows during the last fiscal year.
In the wake of the Padma Bridge scandal, it is encouraging to see growing disbursements by bilateral and multilateral development partners.
Foreign aid totaled nearly $3bn last year, with around two thirds coming in the form of loans and the remainder in grants.
Growth in the actual disbursement of aid, as opposed to pledges of future aid and matching funds, means there is growing confidence that the funds received will be spent effectively.
It is vital the government continues to improve public accountability of how aid funds are spent.
The fact is that although aid is a declining part of the economy, now representing less than 2% of GDP, or less than a fifth of the 11% of GDP accounted for by remittances, such sums remain absolutely vital to underpinning development and infrastructure projects.
Support from the Asian Development Bank and JICA has been crucial to getting important projects such as Metro Rail off the ground. The country needs all the support it can get for programmes to improve infrastructure.
While the goal of weaning the country off foreign aid by developing trade and tapping remittances, is a worthy one, the paradox is that unless aid disbursements are seen increasing, it may not be possible to achieve this aim.
Increasing disbursements of aid remains an important indicator to show that confidence is improving in our future.