Bangladesh has signed two separate loan agreements with the Asian Development Bank for tackling river bank erosion and improving farmland and irrigation systems for agriculture.

The Manila-based lender says Bangladesh will use $46 million loan for a project on sustaining high growth and productivity in agriculture.

The other agreement for $65 million loan will support state-of-the-art riverbank protection measures to prevent land erosion, which is destroying livelihoods and causing huge socio-economic unrest.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin, and ADB's Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi signed the agreements on Thursday in Dhaka.

The loan will have a 25-year repayment term, including a grace period of five years and an annual interest rate determined in accordance with ADB’s London interbank linked lending facility.

The loan for the riverbank management is the first tranche of the ADB’s $255 million loan promised for the government’s 'Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program'.

The agriculture project will establish performance-based irrigation management and agriculture support services, rehabilitate and modernize irrigation system infrastructure, and support institutional development of relevant agencies.

ADB says the project will specifically focus on modernizing the Muhuri Irrigation Project in Chittagong division.

Source:bdnews24.com