TDS Desk:

The World Bank (WB) has pledged to provide Bangladesh with $1 billion (100 crore) in lending support for implementing financial sector reforms, Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Husne Ara Shikha told reporters Sunday.

The loan package would be approved in World Bank’s board meeting in December, and a team from the Washington-based lender is expected to visit Dhaka next week to discuss the interim government’s reform agenda.

In the forthcoming $1 billion loan package, $750 million would policy-based loan while $250 would be provided as guarantee and investment support, Husne Ara Shikha noted.

Bangladesh would have to follow three conditions to avail the funding: form an asset management company for the private sector, redefine classified loans to comply with international standards, and inform the World Bank about audit firm’s agenda under a newly-formed taskforce.

Earlier on Sunday, a team from the multilateral lender paid a visit to Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur.

On 12 September, the finance ministry’s Economic Relations Division (ERD) had sent a letter to World Bank seeking $1 billion in lending support in two tranches.