DHAKA — The Government of Bangladesh today signed a financing agreement worth $500 million for the Safety Net Systems for the Poorest (SNSP) project with the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional arm to support major safety net programs implemented by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. Around four million poorest households will benefit from the project.
The project will support improvements in the implementation of these programs by focusing on the increased allocation of program resources to benefit the poorest population; strengthening their management and monitoring capacity; and enhancing governance and accountability.
“SNSP would cover the poorest and most marginalized people of the country and thus would directly contribute to the World Bank’s goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 and enhancing shared prosperity,” said Christine Kimes, Acting Country Head, World Bank Bangladesh.
The project will provide technical assistance to the Statistics and Informatics Division for the development of the Bangladesh Poverty Database. The database would reduce the overall costs and errors associated with targeting of safety net programs in the country and facilitate coordination among different ministries responsible for their implementation.
The Government of Bangladesh is committed to poverty reduction and strengthening the coordination, targeting and coverage of social protection programs,” said Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance. “This project is a critical milestone in this process.”
SNSP applies a results-based financing modality whereby 86% of the IDA financing would be disbursed on achieving targets such as improved beneficiary selection, the use of modern management information systems, and improved field level implementation with an increased emphasis on addressing beneficiary grievances.
Mr. Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Secretary, Economic Relations Division and Ms. Christine E. Kimes, Acting Head of the World Bank Bangladesh Country Office, signed on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank respectively at the External Relations Division.
The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional lending arm, has 40 years to maturity, including a 10-year grace period; and carries a service charge of 0.75%.
