Pace of fund disbursement under Indian LOC increases

The pace of fund disbursement from India under its line of credit (LOC)  programme has nearly doubled in a year and the amount will soon reach the $1-billion milestone, the Indian high commission in Dhaka said today.

Bangladesh is India's largest development partner under its LOC with total commitment under LOCs being $7.86 billion, said a press note from the commission after the second meeting of the high-level project monitoring committee to review projects under the India-Bangladesh LOC on March 27 this year.

The meeting took place at the Economic Relations Division ((ERD) under the finance ministry. 

Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin co-chaired the event.

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

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

Both sides noted with great satisfaction that significant headway has been made under the GoI LOC framework, it added.

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