DHAKA: Bangladesh on Wednesday signed a $4.5-billion loan deal with India for the development of its infrastructure, health and education. The agreement was signed by Bangladeshi Economic Relations Division Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of India David Rasquinha, in the presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his Bangladeshi counterpart, A.M.A. Muhith.
“Bangladesh has developed significantly on the socioeconomic front in the past seven years,” Jaitley said following the signing of the deal. Under the agreement, Bangladesh would have to purchase 65 to 75% of the services, goods or works from the Indian market with the money to be provided under the third LoC following the precedence of the previous two nearly identical agreements. Bangladesh has two other LoCs open with India: the first one was signed in 2010, and the second one in 2016.
