The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), known for its concessional funding, is providing U$250 million financing to assist Bangladesh in addressing the COVID shocks received during the ongoing pandemic. This financial assistance will facilitate strengthening policies and increase resilience to face upcoming challenges.

This program helps to design the National Tariff Policy, which will aid in the modernization of trade duties. Foreign firms, particularly non-resident digital services firms such as search, social media, and cloud services corporations, are now eligible to file VAT returns and make payments under the new laws.

The national e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system’s coverage will be expanded, increasing the efficiency of government expenditure. The funds will be used to streamline the bank recovery process. All of the scheduled banks will create recovery plans that will be revised on a yearly basis.

Bangladesh has received over U$3 billion from the World Bank since 2020, which has kept a significant impact on supporting necessary steps, such as the vaccination program, emergency response, and COVID 19 recovery efforts. In addition, the newly approved financial assistance will help improve the regulatory framework of the health sector of Bangladesh.

Source: The Financial Express