Bangladesh will be granted a US $ 2.1 billion loan from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) to facilitate the uninterrupted import of LNG and petroleum fuel.
An agreement in this regard was signed on Wednesday at the ministry under the terms of the Annual Financial Plan Negotiation for FY 2024–25 between the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of Bangladesh and the ITFC, situated in Jeddah.
The ITFC is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. Nasrul Hamid, the Prime Minister of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, was present at the event.
The IITFC will provide financing under the terms of the credit arrangement to state-owned Petrobangla for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) for the import of petroleum fuels.
On behalf of their respective sides, chief operating officer and head of the ITFC delegation Nazeem Mooradali and secretary of energy and mineral resources Md Nurul Alam signed the agreement.
Nasrul Hamid averred reporters that Bangladesh has long benefited financially from IDB’s ITFC. He claimed this financing support will enable the Government to import LNG and petroleum fuel more easily.
According to him, US $ 500 million will be used to import LNG and US $ 1.6 billion will be utilised to purchase petroleum fuels.
This will be a welcome development for the Bangladesh RMG industry since it has been reeling under a fuel shortage for a while.
