The New Development Bank will likely make a package of two loans, totalling $765 million to Bangladesh in the first two months of 2024, Bangladeshi officials have told the Indian daily Financial Express. This is one of the largest loans ever issued by the NDB, the development bank created in 2015 by the BRICS. This may be the ushering into existence of the new era of Dilma Rousseff, the former President of Brazil, who became the NDB president in March. Rousseff pledged to transform the NDB into a larger, more dynamic instrument for growth.
The first of the two loans, valued at $325 million, is to the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA), which is responsible for water supply in greater Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. Dhaka has a population of 10.2 million, and Greater Dhaka metropolitan area has 22.5 million people. Dhaka is the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Bangladesh has 169 million people, the eighth most populous nation in the world.
The second of the two loans, valued at $443 million is to the Titas Gas Transportation and Distribution Company, to improve its gas distribution. Titas Gas has 12,000 commercial customers and 5,300 industrial customers.
