Japan and Bangladesh have signed a loan agreement of $225 million as budgetary support for the latter's economic recovery and strengthening public financial management capacity.
The agreement was signed at the NEC-2 Conference Room, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon, on Tuesday.
The loan agreement was signed by Sharifa Khan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Ichiguchi Tomohide, Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh.
The event was witnessed by Iwama Kiminori, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, said in a press release on Tuesday.
The development policy program for this loan will support the strengthening of public financial management capacity through increasing revenues and improving expenditure management of the Government of Bangladesh.
The loan comes with an annual interest rate of 1.6% along a 30-year repayment period, including a 10-year grace period.
Throughout the years, Japan has been Bangladesh's largest bilateral development partner, with this financial assistance being yet another support towards the developmental efforts within the people and Government of the country.
Ichiguchi Tomohide, Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh, said: “the signing of this Loan Agreement is crucial to support economic recovery, sustainable and inclusive growth for the People of Bangladesh.”
The fund will help in meeting the Government's budgetary needs, prop up foreign exchange reserves and give impetus to the reform plans, he added.
Earlier, Japan provided two other budget support loans amounting to 685 million Yen in 2020 and 2021.
Since independence, Japan has provided financial support worth USD $30.12 Billion to Bangladesh.
