Written by The Banking Post
Nearly $11 billion worth of ADB-funded development projects in Bangladesh are under the spotlight as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) prepares to review 16 major schemes marked as “problematic” or “slow-moving.”
The tripartite review meeting (TPRM), scheduled for September 30 in Dhaka, will bring together officials from the ADB, the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and relevant project-implementing agencies to assess delays and chart a path forward.
The ADB’s sovereign portfolio in Bangladesh currently includes 67 loans and three grants totaling $11.02 billion. However, many of these projects have been struggling due to various implementation bottlenecks, prompting the upcoming review.
“This is an important meeting for us,” said an ERD official. “It’s an opportunity to address issues that haven’t been resolved through regular correspondence. We hope this stocktaking will put the struggling projects back on track.”
Among the underperforming projects are several large infrastructure schemes, including:
Dohazari–Ramu–Cox’s Bazar railway
Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Line 5 (Southern Route)
South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Dhaka–Northwest Corridor Road Project (Phase 2, Tranche 3)
Rehabilitation of the Surma Flood Embankment
Delays have been attributed to both underperformance by implementing agencies and procedural hurdles on the ADB’s side, particularly in procurement and approvals.
The ADB had previously warned that funds from underperforming projects could be diverted to more efficient initiatives if progress remains stalled. In its last review, the Bank urged the government to streamline project execution and drew up an action plan, which will be revisited in the upcoming meeting.
ADB disbursed $2.52 billion to Bangladesh in the last fiscal year (FY2024–25), following $2.13 billion in FY2024 and $1.79 billion in FY2023, according to ERD data.
Since 1971, the ADB has committed $33 billion in loans, grants, and technical assistance to Bangladesh, making it the country’s second-largest multilateral development partner after the World Bank.
