Bangladesh signed two Financing deals with the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s soft loan arm, in Washington on Wednesday for an amount of $650 million to implement the “Bay Terminal Marine Infrastructure Development Project” and an amount of $200 million to implement the “Strengthening Social Protection for Improved Resilience, Inclusion and Targeting (SSPIRIT) Project”.
Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary, Economic Relations Division and Gayle H. Martin, Country Director (Interim) of the World Bank for Bangladesh signed the financing agreements on their respective side.
The projects will be implemented by the Chittagong Port Authority under the Ministry of Shipping and the Department of Social Services under the Ministry of Social Welfare and Finance Division respectively, according to a release.
The implementation period of Bay Terminal Marine Infrastructure Development Project is from April 2025 to June 2031 and that of SSPIRIT project is from July 2025 to June 2030.
Representatives of Bangladesh Delegation of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meeting-2025 including Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Finance Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Lutfey Yasser Siddiqi, Special Envoy on International Affairs to the Chief Adviser and World Bank High Officials including Martin Raiser, Vice President, South Asia Region (SAR) were present at the loan signing ceremony.
The main objective of Bay Terminal Marine Infrastructure Development Project is to enable facilitation of the mobilization of private investment for the primary gateway port of Bangladesh and increase its operational efficiency.
This project will facilitate the construction of the breakwater, capital dredging of the entrance channel and port basin, and installation of navigation aids. More specifically, this project will finance three components: (i) Component 1: Support Port Marine Civil Infrastructure, Equipment, and Navigation System Development; (ii) Component 2: Support Port Efficiency Improvements and Capacity Development; and (iii) Component 3: Contingency Emergency Response (CERC) will provide support for an immediate response to an eligible crisis or emergency, as needed. World Bank estimated that after implementation, this Project will reduce USD one (01) million in daily losses by decreasing vessel turnaround time and enhancing port capacity. In addition to that, this project will encourage the private sector to come forward with potential investment in this port area.
The main objective of the SSPIRIT project is to expand coverage and strengthen delivery of the national social protection system for the poor in Bangladesh. Strengthening social protection delivery through establishment and roll-out of a Dynamic Social Registry (DSR), strengthening cash transfer programs and expanding livelihoods programs for the poor will be carried out through this project,
An amount of $650 million loan for the Bay Terminal Marine Infrastructure Development Project will be financed by IDA from three windows namely $100 million from the World Bank’s IDA Country Allocation, $150 million from the Scale-Up Window-Shorter Maturity Loan (SUW-SML), and $400 million from the Scale-up Window (SUW); and a total amount of $200 million loan for SSPIRIT Project will be provided by IDA from Performance Based Allocation (PBA) window.
The World Bank is the largest multilateral development partner of Bangladesh. World Bank has committed over 43.50 billion USD for Bangladesh since its independence which indicates the direction for deepening cooperation between Bangladesh and the World Bank.
At present, the World Bank is financing $13.10 billion for 47 ongoing projects that cover different sectors including economic and social development, institutional reforms, infrastructure development and energy sector development.