IDA to provide $200mn for creating jobs in Covid-hit informal sector

Bangladesh is going to receive $200 million from the International Development Association of the World Bank to help create jobs in the country’s Covid-affected informal sector.

The fund will come under an agreement between the Bangladesh government and IDA in Dhaka on Wednesday to implement the “Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment Project (RAISE)”.

Economic Relations Division Secretary Fatima Yasmin and Country Director of the World Bank Mercy Miyang Tembon, Dhaka Office, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides, said a press release.

The project will be implemented by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) under the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance and the Wage Eamers’ Welfare Board under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

The project has been taken up with the aim of increasing the economic opportunities of the low-income youth community in urban areas and the migrant workers returning from abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

PKSF will spend $150 million while the Wage Earners' Welfare Board spend $50 million to implement the project.

The proposed loan is repayable in 30 years with a grace period of five years.