WB should support national priority of a country, WB ED tells PM

Visiting World Bank Executive Director Aparna Subramani on Thursday told Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that she also thinks the global lending agency should support the national priority of a country.

“I feel the World Bank must support the national priority of any country,” she said during a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter’s Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban office.

The WB Executive Director made the remarks when the Prime Minister raised various conditions like stopping providing subsidy to the food and agriculture sectors imposed by the World Bank to get its loans.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

Praising the socioeconomic development of Bangladesh, Subramani said this has taken the country to a respectable position.

Bangladesh has reached the top position in South Asia, even surpassing India, in many socioeconomic indexes like life expectancy, child mortality and maternal health, she added.

Talking about Bangladesh’s GDP growth, the WB official said, “Over 7 percent GDP growth is a success story… it’s a huge achievement.”

She said they are focusing on financing SMEs.

The Prime Minister said her party has specific economic and social development policies for Bangladesh, for which the country witnessed massive progress and development in the last nine and a half years.

She mentioned that the first priority of her government is to ensure food security and social safety net as well as to make the country free from poverty and hunger as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Hasina said her government has already ensured social safety, especially for women, while girls have made greater progress than boys at the primary education level following government's special focus on female education.

Bangladesh could have developed more had it not witnessed military rule, she said adding that Bangabandhu was assassinated when he had been rebuilding the war-ravaged country soon after the independence.

The Prime Minister also mentioned her refugee life for long six years after August 15 carnage in 1975, saying the military dictator did not allow her to return home.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office Md Nojibur Rahman was present at the meeting.

Source: unb