Published : 29 Aug 2023, 02:19 AM
Updated : 29 Aug 2023, 02:19 AM
The cabinet has approved a draft of the New Development Bank 2023 to welcome funds from the lending arm of the BRICS bloc of developing nations.
The government expects $800 million from the NDB to fund two projects after the law comes into effect, a top official said after the cabinet passed the draft in a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday.
The projects include the installation of Dhaka-Narayanganj gas pipeline and supply of water to Mohammadpur’s Basila by Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, said Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain.
The multilateral development bank, launched by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2015, expanded membership in 2021 to include Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Uruguay.
Bangladesh also sought membership of BRICS, but the group invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates during its just-concluded summit in South Africa.
BRICS’s Shanghai-headquartered lender NDB has signed off on more than 80 projects in the five original member countries. The value of the projects exceeds $30 billion and they are in sectors from transport, water and sanitation to clean energy and digital and social
Infrastructure.
Secretary Mahbub said global and multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, need legal protection for financing, for which the new law has been drafted.
The legal issues related to such development partners include tax waivers for their staff members, he said.
