{"id":121354,"date":"2021-12-20T18:26:54","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T01:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121354"},"modified":"2021-12-20T18:26:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T01:26:54","slug":"sri-lanka-and-bangladesh-bangladeshs-assistance-to-sri-lanka-increases-image-and-presitage-of-bangladesh-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/20\/sri-lanka-and-bangladesh-bangladeshs-assistance-to-sri-lanka-increases-image-and-presitage-of-bangladesh-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka And Bangladesh: Bangladesh’s Assistance To Sri Lanka Increases Image and Presitage Of Bangladesh In The World"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Hafizur Talukdar<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Debt-ridden Bangladesh a few years ago is now a country of\nunprecedented success in debt relief. The world today looks at Bangladesh in\namazement. Bangladesh only borrowed from other countries or organizations. Now\nthat history has changed and started giving loans. Bangladesh has given loans\nto Sri Lanka and Sudan. Bangladesh gave a loan to a country for the first time\nby giving the first installment of the loan promised to Sri Lanka in August.\nOnce upon a time it was a \u2018Bottomless Basket\u2019 and donation seeker in the\ninternational arena. Now it is a lending country. It shows the all-South Asian\ncountries how to revive from ashes. Bangladesh establishes an example in South\nAsia how to ensure economic growth amidst various socio-political aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcoming various adversities, Bangladesh today is a\nconfident and promising country. Today, Bangladesh has risen to the top of\nevery index of the economy. When the ongoing 10 mega projects are completed,\nthe trend of economic growth of the country will increase and prosperity will\nincrease. It shows the all-South Asian countries how to increase their growth\namidst various adversities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economy of the South Asian Island nation of Sri Lanka is\nunder a lot of pressure at the moment due to the wounds of the civil war and\nadditional foreign loans for development projects. At present, the country’s\nforeign exchange reserves have come down to 4 billion. Meanwhile, in the midst\nof the epidemic, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have reached a\nmilestone of over 45 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka was accompanied by the\nGovernor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Dhaka last March to attend the\nbirth centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu. At that time, they made a proposal\nto the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in this regard. After the Prime Minister\nagreed to the proposal, the Sri Lankan government sent a formal proposal to the\nCentral Bank. Then in May, the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Bank approved\nin principle a loan of 250 million to Sri Lanka under the currency swap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh Bank released 50 million in the first installment\non August 16 based on Sri Lanka’s demand. Bangladesh entered the list of lender\ncountries by waiving that loan. And on, the second installment of 100 million\nwas released in June, 2021. This money is being given from the foreign exchange\nreserve of Bangladesh Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reserves are above 46 billion after a 100 million discount\nin favor of Sri Lanka in June. With the current foreign exchange reserves of\nBangladesh, it is possible to meet the import cost for more than eight months.\nBangladesh ranks second among South Asian countries in terms of foreign\nexchange reserves. Bangladesh is giving dollars in this way for the first time.\nThe amount of dollars that Bangladesh will give will be reduced from the\nreserve. This will make Bangladesh famous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has been suffering from a foreign exchange reserve\ncrisis in recent times. At that time, they had only 500 million in foreign\nexchange reserves. With this reserve, it was not possible to meet their import\nexpenses for three months. In order to keep the reserves risk-free, at least\nthree months of import expenditure has to be kept equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in 50 years of independence, Bangladesh\ngave a loan to a country for the development of the country or to meet various\nneeds. Bangladesh made the list of lenders by lending 50 million to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last one decade, Bangladesh has gained this ability\nto lend due to the huge economic development, increase in exports and increase\nin expatriate income as the country’s foreign exchange reserves have swelled.\nEconomists hope that this will change the image of the country. And Sri Lanka\nwill be given a total of 250 million dollars. This money will be released in 5\ninstallments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan, an African country, is unable to repay a loan from\nthe International Monetary Fund (IMF). Bangladesh has taken the responsibility\nof repaying that loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information has been highlighted in a notification of\nthe Ministry of Finance on June 16, 2021. Earlier, Bangladesh had given similar\nbenefits to Somalia, another African country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan\u2019s external debt skyrocketed to nearly $50 billion at\nthe end of 2019. It is known that the IMF will get 6 billion US dollars from\nSudan. In other words, 5 lakh 10 thousand crore Takas in Bangladeshi currency.\nWhen the IMF called on all its members to stand by the country in repaying the\ndebt, almost everyone responded. As a friendly country, Bangladesh also agreed\nto cooperate with Sudan. In response to the IMF’s call, Bangladesh on June 15,\n2021 granted Sudan a loan waiver of Tk 65 crore Taka (650 million dollars)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, on Wednesday, the finance ministry said in a\nstatement that in response to the IMF’s call, Bangladesh had given Sudan a\n“debt waiver” of Tk 65 crore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sudan is a very indebted and poor country,” the\nfinance ministry said in a statement. The government hopes the funding will\nstrengthen Sudan’s fight against poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh has begun to prove its economic potential in a\nvery dramatic way. At one time the country was very poor. US Secretary of State\nHenry Kissinger therefore commented that Bangladesh is a bottomless basket.\nAfter 46 years, the US media Bloomberg says, Bangladesh is now an address of\nsurprising success. The country’s per capita income is now 2500 US dollars. It\nis ahead of India. At the moment, India’s per capita income is $2,116. Pakistan\nis far behind. The country’s per capita income is $1,260. At present,\nBangladesh has 45 billion in foreign exchange reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what happened that Bangladesh is creating one\nsurprise after another? Economists say there are some reasons behind this.\nExports, social progress and economic foresight. There are three more reasons\nbesides economic capability. Sympathy, economic diplomacy and political will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When this was the case, the sudden news came that Bangladesh\nhad provided 200 million in financial assistance to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan\nmedia has raised the question, if Bangladesh can be self-sufficient, why can’t\nwe? In June, the finance ministry of Bangladesh gave more startling news. It\nhas been said that Bangladesh stands by Sudan, the poorest country in Africa.\n65 crores Bangladeshi Taka has been provided to reduce the debt burden of the\nIMF. The country borrowed Rs 510,000 crore Taka from the IMF. The economic\ncrisis was so severe that the country could not repay the debt. Bangladesh has\ncome forward after sending messages asking for help from country to country.\nBangladesh’s finance ministry says Sudan is heavily indebted and poor. The\ngovernment hopes the funding will strengthen Sudan’s fight against poverty. At\none time Sudan was a British colony. The country gained independence on January\n1, 1956 under a treaty. It may be recalled that last year, Bangladesh also\nprovided more than Tk 80 million to Somalia, another African country. That was\nalso in repaying the IMF loan. Sudan, a member of the Organization of Islamic\nCooperation, or OIC, has been crippled by debt and poverty and the financial\nassistance is expected to help overcome the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Bangladesh also handed Tk 80 million to help\nSomalia combat poverty as part of the IMF initiative. Everyone is fascinated by\nthe development of Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image of Bangladesh and the respect for people of this\ncountry has increased due to the assistance to Sri Lanka and Sudan from foreign\nexchange reserves. Now the question is valid. Bangladesh is now a lending\ncountry! If Bangladesh can be self-sufficient, lender, economic miracle in\nSouth Asia, why can’t others do that? Why does South Asia not take lessons from\nBangladesh? Of course, South Asia can learn a lot from Bangladesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Hafizur Talukdar Debt-ridden Bangladesh a few years ago is now a country of unprecedented success in debt relief. The world today looks at Bangladesh in amazement. Bangladesh only borrowed from other countries or organizations. Now that history has changed and started giving loans. Bangladesh has given loans to Sri Lanka and Sudan. Bangladesh gave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hafizur-talukdar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}