Indian credit disbursement nearly doubles

Fund disbursement from India's line of credit (LoC) programme has nearly doubled in a year and the amount will soon hit the $1-billion mark, the Indian high commission in Dhaka said yesterday.

Bangladesh is India's largest development partner under its LoC with commitments totalling $7.86 billion, said a press note from the commission after the second meeting of the high-level project monitoring committee to review India-funded projects on Sunday.

The meeting took place at the Economic Relations Division (ERD). Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin co-chaired the event.

Delegates, including officials of the ERD, the Prime Minister's Office, the foreign and home ministries, the National Board of Revenue, the finance division, the Indian high commission and the Exim Bank of India, were also present.

The bilateral mechanism is one of several joint initiatives to further expedite the execution of projects, by addressing procedural issues and suggesting the way forward.

Both sides noted with great satisfaction that significant headway has been made under the LoC framework, the press note said.

The commission said with a concerted effort from both sides, the pace of disbursements has nearly doubled in one year as $238.68 million was disbursed during the time, despite the serious challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.