Padma Bridge Construction
Noted economists for self financing
The government must continue implementing the Padma bridge project with self financing, otherwise the delay will phenomenally increase the construction costs, said noted economists at a discussion yesterday.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) organised the discussion, “Padma Bridge, World Bank Roadmap and National Ability” at its office in the capital.
The project's lead financier, World Bank, scrapped its $ 1.2 billion credit on June 30 on alleged corruption in the project.
One of the economists, Dr Binayak Sen, said of the $ 2 billion required in foreign currency, the government could easily generate over $1 billion issuing sovereign bonds targeting only 20 lakh of 80 lakh Bangladeshi expatriates.
Bangladesh could woo development partners for the remaining foreign currency and acquire the rest of the project costs, around Tk 7,000 crore, from local money, he said.
Prof MM Akash, Prof Shafiquzzaman, Prof Anu Muhammad, Shahidullah Chowdhury and CPB President Manzuzrul Ahsan Khan spoke at the discussion.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments