HSBC to arrange $333m loans for Power Development Board

HSBC Bangladesh will arrange a $333 million credit facility for Bangladesh Power Development Board.

The BPDB will use the funds to implement its 416-megawatt Ghorasal Third Unit Repowering Power Plant Project in Narsingdi, HSBC said in a statement yesterday.

BPDB owns 54 percent of Bangladesh's total generation capacity, along with its subsidiary companies.

The Bangladesh government will provide sovereign guarantee for the project, which will take three years to complete, according to the statement. The government plans to increase total electricity generation capacity from existing 12,071MW to 24,000MW by 2021.

Md Zahurul Haque, secretary of BPDB, and Arnaud Cachard, head of export finance in Asia Pacific for HSBC, signed the agreement.

Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, adviser to the prime minister; Monowar Islam, power secretary; Md Shamsul Hasan Miah, chairman of BPDB; and Francois de Maricourt, CEO of HSBC Bangladesh, also attended the event.

“We are honoured to be the mandated arranger for ECA-backed credit facility … and proud to support Bangladesh's economic growth by facilitating the increase of electricity generation capacity,” said Francois de Maricourt, CEO of HSBC Bangladesh. 

HSBC has arranged about $1.12 billion finance to implement four major power projects, of about 1,300MW, for BPDB and its subsidiaries, including this project.