Despite the ongoing dollar crisis and dwindling foreign exchange reserves, a staggering amount of foreign aid – USD46.55 billion or Tk 5120 billion – remains untapped in Bangladesh.
Funds were provided by donor agencies, but have not been released yet.
It was revealed that due to some limitations on the part of the recipient and some bureaucratic hurdles on the part of the donor, foreign aid could not be released and utilized properly.
Economists believe that it would have been a relief if the money had been released during the current dollar crisis and depleting foreign exchange reserves.
The situation is so serious that the amount of funds released will be less than one-third of the total grant. The current Annual Development Program (ADP) size is Taka 2,450 billion and the pledged foreign assistance can finance the ADP for two financial years. Additionally, it can also facilitate 15 metro rail projects.
The current size of the country's foreign exchange reserves is USD20 billion and pledged foreign aid is equivalent to twice the foreign exchange reserves.
Experts said officials lacked efforts and goodwill to sanction the funds.
