The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

Bangladesh will receive a $95 million loan from the World Bank to implement two new projects to help poor families affected by last year's deadly cyclone, officials said on Sunday.

The cyclone Sidr killed more than 3,000 people in November, causing extensive damage to property, livestock, and crops, estimated at a total of $1.7 billion.

"It is our collective duty to help Bangladesh and promote the growing economy," Mohamed Alhousseyni Toure, Operations Adviser of the World Bank, said.

The Bangladesh government has undertaken a Social Investment Programme Project to help families affected by the cyclone. It has also launched an aid scheme for people with disabilities and vulnerable children in rapidly growing urban slums who are at risk after natural disasters.

"Bangladesh is implementing a number of projects to recover the economy with the help of development partners and we are coordinating the whole process," Toure told a meeting attended by experts, representatives of development partners and senior officials.

The 40-year World Bank loan will also cover $10 million in assistance for Disaster Management Bureau aimed at improving its efficiency, the bureau's director, Mohammad Abu Sadeque, said.

The authorities in Dhaka and the World Bank have assessed that the country will need $4 billion to fully rehabilitate the economy after the cyclone, officials said.