World Bank will provide budget help again if energy sector proposals are implemented, Muhith says

The World Bank has promised to provide help with budget again if Bangladesh implements the proposals it gave to improve the energy sector, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.

Muhith spoke about the issue after a meeting with the World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region Annette Dixon in Dhaka on Sunday.
 
He said the help might be up to $500 million.
 
“It will be discussed in details in the World Bank’s Annual General Meeting in Peru next month (October),” Muhith said.
 
The finance minister said the government recently adjusted price of power in line with the World Bank proposals.
 
“But a little more is yet to be done,” he said.
 
About adjusting the price of oil with the global market, he said the government would not do anything ‘suddenly’ now.
 
The price of oil was hiked for the last time in 2013, adjusting it with the price in international market.
 
Octane is still being sold at Tk 99 a litre, petrol Tk 96, and kerosene and diesel Tk 68 per litre, though the global prices are falling for the past one year.   
 
The government is not cutting oil prices so that Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation can recoup the losses it had sustained by giving subsidy.
 
The state-owned corporation is making profit in the last six months.
 
Finance Minister Muhith said he also discussed World Bank’s loan structure with Dixon.
 
The global lender wanted to unify all sorts of loans (soft and hard) like Asian Development Bank.
 
Dixon said the World Bank wanted to speed up the help for Bangladesh so that the growth could continue.
 
She, too, said the budget help would be discussed in Peru.