OPEC Fund Approves $100M Budgetary Support for Bangladesh

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has provided $100 million in budgetary support to Bangladesh to support the country’s economic and governance reforms.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday between the Bangladesh government and OFID during the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Washington, DC.

Shahriar Kader Siddiki, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, President of OFID, signed the deal on April 22.

This support will be used to strengthen Bangladesh’s macroeconomic, financial, and management reforms, according to ERD officials.

The loan has an 18-year maturity period, including a 3-year grace period, with an interest rate set at the 6-month EURIBOR plus 1.20%.

In February 2022, OFID had also extended $75 million to assist Bangladesh’s economic recovery post-COVID.

Since 1977, OFID has contributed a total of $793.61 million for 33 development projects and $310.21 million for the private sector in Bangladesh.