By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh has told donors that it requires $2.2 billion for rehabilitation projects and budgetary support from the world community in the wake of the Nov 15 cyclone that killed at least 3,200 people and devastated the economy.
Bangladesh expects a one percentage point drop in expected GDP growth and a one percentage point rise in inflation in financial year 2008 due to Cyclone Sidr, donors led by World Bank were told at a meeting here Wednesday.
“We need immediate assistance to get back to pre-Sidr situation and the money required will be provided from both budget and assistance received from our development partners,” Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, economic relations division (ERD) secretary, was quoted as telling reporters.
The latest call more than doubles the earlier figure of $1 billion assistance sought by Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed in the wake of the disaster, The Daily Star reported.
Officials said it was used as a yardstick for the massive funds required for long-term rehabilitation programmes such as building cyclone shelters, embankments, roads and educational institutions.
The government told the Local Consultative Group (LCG), a platform of Bangladesh’s development partners, that it required subsidies for the import of food and other essentials whose production had been hit by the cyclone.
Besides its huge impact in terms of human lives, Cyclone Sidr left a million people homeless and damaged crops on vast stretches in southern Bangladesh.
World Bank country director Xian Zhu, who led the delegation, told reporters that donors stood ready to help the government, but the effort must be coordinated through a joint mission comprising the government and the donors.
He stressed on the need for joint assessments with the government to hammer out the details of the massive project.