IDB gives Tk 1,000cr for housing finance

The Islamic Development Bank will provide Bangladesh a Tk 1,000 crore loan (€94.75 million) to help the country ensure access to housing finance for the rural and peri-urban population. The loans also aim at saving agriculture land from being eroded for housing purposes. The loan agreement was signed on Tuesday by Finance Minister AMA Muhith and IDB President Bandar MH Hajjar in Tunisia on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the IDB board of governors.

The loan will be distributed among borrowers through the House Building Finance Corporation, according to finance ministry officials. At the meeting in Tunis, Muhith said the disbursement of IDB-funded projects has been slower than those of other development partners like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

In response, Hajjar said the IDB is moving towards massive decentralisation; the country gateway offices and regional hubs will be delegated with more authority, which will accelerate the implementation activities. Muhith also discussed the Rohingya refugee issue with the IDB president. The finance minister drew the IDB president’s attention to the atrocities committed by the Myanmar government against the Rohingya Muslims. He referred to the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, in this regard, which considered this genocide a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’. Muhith informed that Bangladesh was hosting more than 1 million Rohingya refugees, which has been exerting a heavy toll on the economy.

The finance minister sought support of the member countries and the Muslim world alongside the multilateral and UN agencies to ensure livelihood and safe repatriation of the Rohingyas. The IDB president assured Muhith of addressing the concern with joint efforts.