Foreign donors have hardly made any pledge in the first quarter (Q1) of this fiscal year for development assistance as negotiation with some major donors delayed. From July through September in FY16, the foreign aid flow to Bangladesh stood at US$52.8m, plunging 88% from $438.4m a year earlier, according to Economics Relations Division (ERD). Usually, aid commitment from donors remains poor in the beginning of any fiscal year, but it might rise in coming months, said an official. However, this year, it was down sharply because of delayed negotiation with some big donors and slowed project approval, he said. The government’s fiscal target to receive overseas assistance is around $6bn in the current fiscal year. The country had received more than US$3bn foreign aid in the last fiscal year, down more than 10% from previous fiscal year. During the period, however, the foreign aid disbursement has increased 6% to $502.2m, of which, $408m came as loan and the rest as grant. Of the amount, the World Bank provided $192m as credit and $57.3m as grant, JICA $41.6m as credit and $3.8m as grant. Moreover, Asian Development Bank gave credit of $76.2m, Islami Development Bank $42.5m, Russia $22.7m in the period. UNDP provided $11.9m as grant. Bangladesh has paid $237.7m to the lenders against its total outstanding external loans during the period. Of which, $182m was paid as principal amount and $55.7m as interest. In the same period last fiscal year, the payment amount was $354.6m, of which $301.4m as principal amount and $53.1m as grant.
