Bangladesh signs €477m deals with EU and EIB for renewable energy and more

Sheikh Hasina attended the signing ceremony at the EU Headquarters in Brussels

The European Investment Bank, the European Union, and Bangladesh have signed agreements worth 477 million euros for renewable energy projects and other cooperative actions in the country.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and EU President Ursula von der Leyen attended the signing ceremony of several agreements at the EU Headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

Hasina is currently in Brussels for the Global Gateway Forum conference.

The EIB will extend a 350 million euro loan, with the EIB and the EU jointly contributing 127 million euros in grants, the Economic Relations Division said in a statement.

The repayment period for the loan is 25 years, with a grace period of five years.

Based on the current exchange rate, the amount in Bangladeshi currency is about Tk 5.58 billion.

The funds from these loans and grants will be used for projects to provide digital services to the public, focusing on renewable energy, human resource development, good governance, and infrastructure modernisation, said the statement.

According to ERD, the Bangladesh government has signed two separate framework agreements with the EIB.

These agreements involve 395 million euros, with 350 million euros in the form of a loan and the remaining 45 million euros as a grant.