India on Wednesday signed an agreement with Bangladesh extending a $4.5-billion (approximately Rs 29,460 crore) credit line to develop Dhaka’s infrastructure and social sector, PTI reported.
The money will be used to to fund 17 major projects including those in sectors like electricity, railways, roads, and shipping. Bangladesh will pay interest at 1% a year, and will have 20 years, plus an additional five years if needed, to repay the loan.
Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of India, David Rasquinha, signed the agreement in the presence of the two nations’ finance ministers, Arun Jaitley and AMA Muhith.
“Bangladesh has developed significantly on the socioeconomic front in the past seven years,” Jaitley said after the deal was signed. “We have stood by Bangladesh’s attempts to develop and we will do so in the future. This significant agreement is a continuation of that effort.”
Muhith said that Bangladesh and India currently have excellent ties with each other. “They stood by us during our independence. We hope they will continue to do so in the future,” he said.
About 65% to 75% of the equipment for the projects will have to be brought from India according to this agreement.
India had extended two other lines of credits to Bangladesh, one in 2010, and another in 2016.
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