South Korea offers $700m credit to Bangladesh

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South Korea has made a decision to extend US$700 million in concessional loans to Bangladesh beneath the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).

In this connection, the Korean Exim Bank has dispatched a letter to the Finance Ministry of Bangladesh, saying that the decision has been built through "careful consideration of the government's development wants, its significance in monetary relations with Korea in addition to the current EDCF portfolio extended to Bangladesh."

The Korean government proposed that the amount of money will be provided for 2021-25 period. Both government can possess the scope for signing new agreements for using the mortgage loan.

The decision was taken after a gathering between the officials of the Ministry of Market of Financing of Korea and the Finance Ministry of Bangladesh.

Based on the previous Framework Arrangement, signed in 2018, Korea committed to present $500 million in concessional loans to Bangladesh out of 2017 to 2020 to help implement several infrastructure assignments in Bangladesh.

Before that, it committed $350 million between 2015 and 2017 under an identical arrangement.

Another appointment dubbed the EDCF Policy dialogue is normally scheduled to be placed shortly where both sides will take stock the current express of the bilateral cooperation and the scope for bankrolling funding long term projects in Bangladesh.

The K-Exim Lender also expressed its desire to invest in the proposed rail-cum-road bridge over the river Karnafuli.

It wants to know the equity framework of the job and what may be the contribution of the government of Bangladesh aside from foreign assistance.

The Bangladesh government has made a decision to construct a rail-cum-road bridge over the river Karnafuli.

The railway minister has said the federal government intends to start the construction of the bridge this season plus they have started negotiations with the Korea government for funding.

The proposed bridge will replace the rundown, old bridge at the Kalurghat area.

The prevailing Kalurghat bridge, used by thousands of people every day, was constructed in 1932 between Boalkhali and Janali Hat.

The proposed bridge comprising a two-lane road and dual-gauge rail track will be crucial not only to the persons of Chattogram, also for establishing direct rail communications with Cox's Bazar.

With an idea to unveil the rail track connecting Cox's Bazar by 2022, the authorities were expecting to complete the proposed bridge by the same period.

The railways minister said the look and the construction site for the bridge have been completely finalised.

The present bridge had only meter-gauge rail track until it had been refurbished with a connecting road in 1962.

The Kalurghat Railway Bridge was constructed in 1931 and later on the steel turf plates were laid in the type of decking on the girder of the bridge to permit road vehicles to ply the narrow bridge on a short-term basis.

But frequent disruptions to site visitors have become a common phenomenon at the bridge point due mainly to two reasons.

An individual is that the cars can move simply in one direction at a time and the other may be the recent growth of site visitors in the districts of Cox's Bazar and Bandarbans and the southern part of Chittagong.
Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd

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