Foreign assistance still vital: Muhith
UNB
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said foreign assistance still can play a vital role in Bangladeshs socioeconomic development, reports UNB. He said this while responding to a tabled starred question from Gazi MM Amzad Hossain Milon (Sirajganj-3) in Parliament. Muhith said the country needs to invest 32 percent of its GDP to attain the targeted average GDP 7.4 percent as per the Seventh Five-Year Plan. The Finance Minister said the foreign assistance used to be spent in infrastructure and socioeconomic development and eradication of poverty under the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
To establish Bangladesh as a middle-income country, it needs to invest massively in infrastructure and socioeconomic sectors, including power, energy, bridges, rail and roads, he said.
The minister said in the 2016-17 fiscal budget the foreign assistance was estimated Tk 44,463 crore. Of the total amount, Tk 40,000 crore will come as project assistance in ADP, while Tk 316 crore as food assistance.
The amount of non-ADP project assistance was estimated at Tk 4,147 for the same period.
The amount of grant of the total foreign assistance is Tk 5516 crore, while the amount of loan is Tk 38,947 crore.
Responding to another tabled stared question from M Abdul Matin (Moulvibazar-2) the Finance Minister said that Bangladesh mainly take Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the development assistance organisations or countries which are soft loan or grants.
So we have no initiative to reduce the foreign assistance at all, rather we want to take big projects by taking foreign assistance.
But, were not foreign assistance dependent country, he said.
