World Bank approves new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Bangladesh

[Bilal9]

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It focuses on private sector growth, socioeconomic inclusion & climate resilience​

FE REPORT
Published :
Apr 28, 2023 07:32 PM
Updated :
Apr 28, 2023 07:34 PM


The World Bank (WB) has developed a five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Bangladesh with the aim of assisting the country in achieving its goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country (UMIC) by 2031.

According to officials, the CPF will be implemented from 2023 to 2027, during which the global lender will provide financial and technical assistance to support Bangladesh's development and growth objectives.

On Friday, the WB's Board of Executive Directors approved the new CPF for Bangladesh at its headquarters in Washington.

The previous CPF, which focused on the foundational priorities of growth and competitiveness, social inclusion, and climate and environment management, was developed for the period of FY2016 to FY2020.

"Basically, the new CPF is a strategy paper of the WB. The development partner will help Bangladesh in the five years period up to 2027 based on the CPF," said a senior Economic Relations Division (ERD) official.

He also mentioned that the country expects to receive around $2.0 billion in annual support from the global lender over the next five years.

To prepare the CPF, the WB engaged in extensive countrywide and online consultations with various key stakeholder groups, including the government, the private sector, civil society, think tanks, academia, media, and other development partners.

In a statement released on Friday, the World Bank noted that the new CPF will help develop a diversified and competitive private sector to create more and better jobs, promote socioeconomic inclusion to expand opportunities for all and address climate and environmental vulnerabilities.

The WB identified these three outcomes as key priorities for Bangladesh's growth aspirations.

The CPF, anchored in the government's 8th Five-Year Plan and the long-term Perspective Plan 2021-2041, will support Bangladesh's goal to achieve UMIC status by 2031 by helping the country address key barriers to higher and sustainable growth, the WB said.

The CPF has emphasised a robust programme of technical and financial support focusing on eight objectives: an improved business environment for broad-based private sector development, strengthened financial intermediation for long-term growth and resilience, improved effectiveness of public institutions to deliver better services, improved quality and equitable access for human capital development services, enhanced economic opportunities for women and vulnerable groups, strengthened spatial and digital connectivity for inclusive growth, improved effectiveness of delta management for accelerated climate resilience building and sustainability, and productivity in the use of natural capital for green growth and energy transition.

"This Country Partnership Framework builds on five decades of strong partnership between the World Bank Group and Bangladesh," said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

"As Bangladesh aims to be more prosperous, it will need stronger institutions and policies to serve the needs of an upper-middle-income country. This CPF will support the government's reform programs to deliver jobs and support inclusion and resilience."

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Vice President of Operations Junaid Kamal Ahmad said, "Bangladesh has an ambitious goal - to achieve upper-middle-income status within a short period and that too in the face of the daunting challenges of climate change."

He added that access to private capital and global financial markets would be increasingly needed to achieve this goal.

"Bangladesh has been one of the world's outstanding development growth stories. Additional reforms to spur the development of a more diversified and competitive private sector will grow exports and create quality jobs," said Martin Holtmann, International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Country Manager for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.

He added that financing for green investments to help tackle and mitigate climate risks would become increasingly important.