Delegation from Asian Development Bank calls on chief adviser

A senior delegation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), led by its South Asia Director General Takeo Konishi, called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today at the State Guest House Jamuna.
The Director General said that the ADB has a long history of working in Bangladesh and would be keen on supporting the interim government to initiate vital structural reforms in the country, according to a press release of the Chief Adviser’s Office.
There was room for policy-based lending to Bangladesh as the interim government stepped up efforts to stabilise the economy, said Konishi.
Highlighting how the the student-led revolution had given Bangladesh a new opportunity to rebuild the institutions piece by piece, the chief adviser said, “We’re in a ground zero situation. Everything needs to be done as quickly as possible.”
During the meeting, the government’s newly launched financial sector reforms, key economic issues such as digitalisation of the tax data, data transparency, energy, private sector, and investment were discussed.
Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy of the Chief Adviser, observed that dynamics in the foreign exchange market and its interplay with reserves and remittances are already showing signs of improvement.
“There is a noticeable uplift in confidence and credibility on that front,” said Siddiqi.
Lamiya Morshed, senior secretary and chief coordinator of SDG affairs was also present at the meeting for the chief adviser’s office. For
ADB, Edimon Ginting, senior adviser; Hoe Yun Jeong, country director designate, and Jiangbo Ning, deputy country director, were present.