Japan has agreed to extend a loan of 30 billion Japanese Yen (equivalent to $225 million) to Bangladesh as part of the “Development Policy Loan for Strengthening Public Financial Management.”
The loan will provide budget support to Bangladesh and was formalized through the signing of an “Exchange of Notes” and a “Loan Agreement” between the governments of both countries. Sharifa Khan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) within the Ministry of Finance, represented Bangladesh, while Iwama Kiminori, the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, and Ichiguchi Tomohide, Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh Office, represented Japan.
The loan carries an interest rate of 1.6 percent and a front-end fee of 0.1 percent, with a repayment period of 30 years, including a 10-year grace period. This loan follows two previous budget support loans provided by Japan in 2020 and 2021, amounting to 685 million yen ($4.7 million) in total.
With a long-standing partnership, Japan remains the largest bilateral development supporter of Bangladesh, offering financial assistance in various sectors such as power, transportation, agriculture, healthcare, education, water supply, sanitation, rural development, environment, and human resource development.
Since Bangladesh gained independence, Japan has contributed a total of $30.12 billion in financial support to the country.
