The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral finance institution that promotes economic and social progress in the Asia-Pacific region, which has recently decided to provide US$30 million loan to upgrade garment factories in Bangladesh, has come in for some criticism from the country’s Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who although admitted that that the bank is committing and disbursing more funds to Bangladesh, maintained that it is still very slow in approving projects.
“If a project is discussed today, it takes at least two years to start disbursing the funds,” the Finance Minister reportedly told a newspaper on the sidelines of the annual meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Frankfurt, adding, “The ADB will have to bring down the time. I will talk on the issue [at the Governors’ meeting].”
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It may be mentioned here that ADB, as part of the steps to meet globally agreed standards for structural improvements, and worker rights and safety in the RMG sector of Bangladesh, has reportedly decided to provide US$30 million loan to BRAC Bank recently to finance construction and upgrading of RMG factories in the country.
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“Bangladesh has been taking steps in conjunction with the international community, to make its factories safer and to improve conditions for workers, but there is a substantial cost and a need for long-term funding that is not readily available from the current sources,” underlined Investment Specialist in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department Biao Huang, adding, “This loan, with a 5-year tenure, will help meet the need for longer term finance currently unavailable from local banks and international capital markets, and will be used exclusively by BRAC Bank to finance socially and environmentally sustainable projects.”
