Muhith: Jim's visit a great occasion

Finance Minister AMA Muhith described the visit of the World Bank president “a great occasion” as, according to him, such visit would take Bangladesh's relation with the lender to new heights. He also said strain in relation with the lender due to cancellation of Padma Bridge funding on corruption allegations had also started to improve after the current president's review of the matter. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim arrived in Dhaka on Sunday evening. He is scheduled to attend a conference organised marking the “International Day on Poverty Alleviation” Monday at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka. “The visit of World Bank president is a great occasion for us and this visit will take our relation with the bank to new heights,” AMA Muhith told the Dhaka Tribune. He said: “We are the largest recipient of funding from the World Bank group through its concessional window, International Development Assistance.” Muhith said the government expects to have fresh commitment of a $72bn as mostly soft loans from the IDA. He said the amount is “much higher than the current commitment of $52bn. “I hope that the country will get $1.2bn this year while the World Bank gave of $1.7bn last year.” Muhith said the drop of poverty rate in Bangladesh will be highlighted at the conference on the International Day of Poverty Alleviation. In 2013, the country's poverty rate was 22.5% while the ultra poverty rate was 9%. “By 2018, the country expects the poverty rate will drop to 12%,” the finance minister said. Jim will be the fifth World Bank president visiting Bangladesh since the country's independence. Among the former presidents, Robert Strange McNamara and Robert Bruce Zoellick had visited the country during their tenures. A US citizen of South Korean origin Jim Yong Kim became the president of the World Bank in 2012.