Bangladesh is remaining one of the major recipients of financial assistance from the World Bank (WB), with obtaining a total lending commitment of $2.7 billion dollars by the end of 2015, reports BSS.
“The Bank already offered $1.2 billion for four projects and we hope the amount of the total lending commitment would stand at $2.7 billion at the end of this year,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith told journalists after a meeting with a top level official of the development partner. World Bank Vice-President for the South Asia Region Annette Dixon met with the finance minister at his office yesterday when they had discussions on the status of the current areas of assistance and future programmes and projects. One of the major issues was to speed up the process of releasing the expected $500 million budgetary support from the WB.
The WB high official assured that all expected support including the budget assistance would be continued. 
Dixon said at the meeting they had talked about the history of cooperation between Bangladesh and World Bank when she noted some significant progress that this country made in the recent years.
“My discussion focused on how the WB could support Bangladesh more to take the country to the middle income group in next few years”, she said.
She observed that Bangladesh economy in the past few years expanded well with 6 per cent year-on-year growth, which resulted in substantial reduction in poverty. 
“Poverty has reduced in the last ten years and we believe it is an outstanding success in development”, she said. 
The finance minister said that the bank would come forward with the budget programme, but there would have farther discussions on the issue.
He said the bank would partner with the government to help shape and implement the policies aimed at reducing poverty, improving shared prosperity and promoting sustainable growth.
”The poverty rate will be reduced at 11 to 14 per cent in 2018, and if it comes at this level, this will be like no poverty,” he added.
When asked about the negative impact of the present political unrest on poverty reducing initiatives, the finance minister said this situation would not sustain for long.
Terming the countrywide blockade and hartal by the BNP-Jamaat alliance as worthless, the finance minister said any political party in the country did not give such worthless programme before.