Japan Government has agreed to give bangladesh $600m

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the Japanese government has agreed to give Bangladesh $600 million loans for the Padma bridge project, a safe drinking water supply project in Khulna, and for the development of the SME sector.

Of the total amount, $400 million will be given for Padma bridge, $160 million for the water supply programme and the rest for the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector, Muhith said.

"The finance ministry and the Japanese embassy will enter into an agreement in this regard on Wednesday (tomorrow)," the minister said at a seminar titled "Middle East and Japan Crises: Possible Impact on Bangladesh Economy" at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in Dhaka.

The minister said the agreement signing for the loans committed by the Japan government was delayed because of the natural disasters that hit Japan in March.

The Japan government has already assured Bangladesh that it will continue to process and disburse all the loans despite the recent disasters in the country.

The minister said Bangladesh's imports may be affected for higher prices of petroleum products and food grains worldwide, though its exports are doing well till now.

He stressed the need for bringing discipline in manpower export as there are some irregularities in this business. "We have to focus on manpower export because this is one of the major foreign currency earning sectors of the country," he said.