The World Bank's board of executive directors yesterday discussed a new country partnership framework (CPF) for Bangladesh for the years 2023-2027 and approved a $1.25 billion financing in three new projects.

The CPF, anchored in the government's eighth Five-Year Plan and the Long-Term Perspective Plan 2021–2041, will support Bangladesh's goal to achieve upper-middle-income country status by 2031 by helping the country address key barriers to higher and sustainable growth, said a World Bank press release today.

It will help develop a diversified and competitive private sector to create more and better jobs; promote socioeconomic inclusion to expand opportunities for all; and address climate and environmental vulnerabilities. These three outcomes are key priorities for Bangladesh's growth aspirations.

According to the press release, the three projects for which the World Bank approved $1.25 billion financing are:

The $500 million Program on Agricultural and Rural Transformation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship, and Resilience (PARTNER) project, which will help promote diversification, food safety, entrepreneurship, and climate resilience in the agri-food systems; the $500 million First Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit that will help the country's transition to green and climate-resilient development; and the $250 million Sustainable Microenterprise and Resilient Transformation (SMART) project will help transform the micro-enterprise sector into a more dynamic, less polluting, resource efficient, and climate resilient growth sector.

With these three projects approved, the International Development Association's (IDA's) total ongoing programme in Bangladesh stands at $16.3 billion. MIGA's current programme in Bangladesh is just over $1 billion. IFC has an ongoing programme of about $1 billion, the release said.