The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

World Bank Friday appreciated the ongoing institutional reforms and assured continuous support to the efforts of the Caretaker Government for accelerating economic growth and poverty reduction.

The assurance came at a meeting between Managing Director of World Bank Graeme Paul Wheeler and Finance Adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam in Washington, DC, a government release said Sunday.

The World Bank chief executive also hoped that the ongoing reforms would "contribute significantly to establishing a framework for good governance in Bangladesh".

Paul Wheeler encouraged the Government to pursue government-owned ongoing reforms "robustly" so that assistance from the bank can be scaled up and effectively used for the benefit of the poor.

He lauded the Government's intention to maintain macroeconomic stability and pursue prudent fiscal discipline.

Mirza Aziz thanked the WB boss for their continued support and expressed the commitment of the government to "pursue institutional and policy reforms".

In this context, he also highlighted the reforms already implemented in combating corruption and separation of the judiciary from the executive.

The Finance Adviser cited developments in tax reforms and creation of Better Business Forum as a mark of advancing investment climate in Bangladesh.

"There has been an improvement in the absorptive capacity of aid resources in Bangladesh following various actions taken by the interim government under the leadership of the Chief Adviser, which justifies more support from the World Bank," he said.

The Adviser also reiterated the need for continued assistance from the multilateral donor agency on those sectors which have direct bearings on poverty-reduction efforts along with focus on addressing the challenges emanating from climate change.

On the sidelines of the Bank-Fund meeting, the Finance Adviser had a detailed meeting with the Bangladesh Country Team in the World Bank.

Mirza Aziz appreciated Bank's commitment to provide scaled-up budget support following the recent floods.

He also reaffirmed the sincere intentions of the interim government to transfer power to an elected government by the end of 2008, highlighted the major policy and institutional reforms such as the reconstitution of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission and the Public Service Commission.

World Bank Alternate Executive Director Zakir Ahmed Khan, ERD Secretary M Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, Finance Secretary Dr Mohammad Tareque, Bangladesh Ambassador Humayun Kabir and Economic Minister Mahfuzul Haque were present during the meeting.