The government on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Japanese government to get loan assistance for the Matarbari Port construction, improvement of Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Highway, and installing dual-gauge double-line rail tracks on the Joydebpur-Ishwardi route.
Sharifa Khan, secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance signed the agreement for nearly $1.27 billion loan on behalf of the Bangladesh government, while Japanese Ambassador Iwama Kiminori and Jica Bangladesh Chief Representative Ichiguchi Tomohide represented Japan.
The interest rate for the loan scheme will be 1.20% for construction and 0.01% for consultancy services. The front end fee (at a time) would be 0.2%, and repayment period 30 years including a 10-year grace period.
Japan, the country’s long-time development partner, has already contributed towards the Matarbari Port and Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway projects through the first tranche of loans worth $319 million and $14.68 million respectively.
Matarbari Port in Chattogram is set to be the country’s first deep-sea port capable of hosting large vessels. The improvement work on Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway involves building flyover and outer roads at major congested sections of the route.
The third project would transform the existing 162km railway between Gazipur’s Joydebpur and Pabna’s Ishwardi into dual-gauge, double-line tracks to enhance connectivity.
