ADB approves $200 mln for Bangladesh urban development

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan package of 200 million US dollars to strengthen urban infrastructure, service delivery and governance in Bangladesh.

"The country's pourashavas still need significant investment to not only improve service delivery and the urban environment but also strengthen resilience to climate change," said ADB Urban Development Specialist Alexandra Vogl.

"This additional ADB financing for the well-performing Third Urban Governance and Infrastructure (Sector) Project builds on the work of two previous ADB projects, expanding work in the pourashavas where we are already working and into five new ones," Vogl was quoted as saying in a statement released by the lender Wednesday.

Bangladesh's economy has been growing at a healthy pace, averaging 6.6 percent gross domestic product growth in 2014-2016, but the government faces the challenge of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in the face of rapid urbanization, said the Manila-based bank.

Other challenges included fecal sludge management and underdeveloped or badly maintained drainage, it said, adding these issues are more acute in pourashavas because of inadequate governance, lack of community participation, and capacity constraints.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency