A loan agreement has been signed between  Bangladesh and Korea under which the Korean EXIM Bank would provide $100  million to Bangladesh as budget support.

   The budget support will be provided against the "Program Loan for  Sustainable Economic Recovery Program (Subprogram1)" to mitigate the adverse  impact of COVID-19 pandemic. 

   Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Wing Chief and Additional Secretary of the  Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Kim Tae-soo, Executive Director of  Korea Exim Bank signed the agreement on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and the government of the Republic of Korea respectively, said an  ERD press release today.

   Since 1993, the Korean Exim Bank, on behalf of the Korean government, has  been providing soft loan to various priority development sector projects in  Bangladesh. Under this loan agreement, the Korea Exim Bank will provide  $100.00 million to implement the project. 

   The loan will bear simple interest rate of 0.05 percent per annum while  the maturity period will be 40 years including a grace period of 15 years.

   The loan is aimed at recovering the economy by implementing various  reforms in revenue collection system and design schemes to support 
entrepreneurs who have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

HM