$500m ADB loan to develop primary education system

FT ONLINE

The government is set to receive $500 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) soon to improve the quality of primary education system.

Officials said the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of finance ministry will constitute a team of negotiators for the loan this month.

The team will sit with the ADB early August to negotiate the release of the loan styled 'Fourth Primary Education Development Programme', they added.

The multilateral lender has already sent a draft loan deal and other necessary papers to the ERD.

To this end, the ERD will sit in an internal pre-loan negotiation next week, a high official of the division said.

The ADB has agreed on the concessional loan from its ordinary capital resources. The loan has a principal repayment period of 20 years.

The grace period for repayment will count 2.0 per cent interest rate on the loan per annum.

The credit aims to make primary education system more effective for Bangladeshi children, according to a release on the ADB website.

The new programme will build on the achievements of previous programmes with a focus on ensuring quality education, improving access to education and enhancing institutional management through decentralisation.

The programme is aligned with the country's partnership strategy 2016-2020 which indicates the ADB's continued support to primary education.

Primary education in Bangladesh has made a significant progress, especially in terms of access and equity.