Tk 68.52 bln Padma fund in next budget: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Saturday said Bangladesh plans to bridge the mighty Padma with its 'own resources' and Tk 68.52 billion will be allocated for the purpose in the forthcoming budget.

That would mean just under one-third of the project cost would be earmarked for the $2.9-billion prestigious project in the national budget.

“The framework for the project will be announced within a week,” Muhith told editors of national dailies and television channels during an interactive session.

He said the allocation would include a dollar component equivalent to Tk 608 million.

Bangladesh withdrew the funding request from the World Bank earlier this year for this project that aims to connect southern and southwestern districts of the country with the mainland.

The withdrawal came as the incumbent government ran out of patience with the World Bank's ambivalence over whether to fund the project or not apparently following surfacing of corruption charges in it.

China and Malaysia have already come up with concrete proposals to fund the project but Muhith has been maintaining all along that Bangladesh would try doing the project with its 'own resources'.

The Finance Minister shed light on different aspects of the forthcoming budget in the meeting.

He said the government had also allocated Tk 10.05 billion for the Padma project in the revised budget of the current fiscal.

Senior journalist Rahat Khan, Boishakhi television’s Editor-in-Chief and also the Chief Executive Officer Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi, Maasranga Television CEO Syed Fahim Munaem, among others, attended the views exchange meeting.

Amid uncertainty over financing of Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project to date, the government also considered the Chinese and Malaysian proposals. China forwarded its proposal to the Prime Minister in February.

Malaysia said it would invest $2.3 billion in the project. They plan to recover the amount in 26 years in the form of toll charges. Malaysia will be taking 70 percent of the profit, which is $5.2 billion and Bangladesh will get the remaining 30 percent -- $2.19 billion.

On the other hand, a Chinese consortium led by Sphere Energy Creations Beijing Ltd (SECA) and backed by a government-owned bank, officially proposed to channel interest-free $1.95 billion to bridge the Padma with a payback period of 20 years.

The offer has estimated the cost of Bangladesh’s largest ever infrastructure project at $2.79 billion. According to their proposal, Bangladesh will have to source the rest of the money – roughly 30 percent of the total spending – and appoint a firm to supervise the construction work.

Bangladesh would require repaying $8.15 million a month for 20 years after an agreement is signed for the 6.15-kilometre multipurpose rail-road bridge.

The bridge is estimated to boost the nation’s economic growth by up to one percent a year.

Asked whether the Chinese proposal will be considered, Muhith said, “We are currently going ahead with [plans] to build the Padma bridge with our own funding. We are not thinking about other things now.”