ADB's Work in Bangladesh
Exports, remittances, and domestic consumption buoyed Bangladesh’s economy in fiscal year 2021 with gross domestic product rising to 6.9%, from 3.4% in the previous year. Growth in both years was markedly lower than in the fiscal year 2019 and the average growth from 2016–2019 due to the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a key source of external assistance for Bangladesh, providing $2 billion on average annually during 2016–2021. ADB’s assistance is aligned with Bangladesh’s Eighth Five-Year Plan, 2021–2025 and the Perspective Plan, 2021-2041.
To date, ADB has committed 679 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $26.7 billion to Bangladesh. Cumulative loan and grant disbursements to Bangladesh amount to $19.69 billion. These were financed by regular and concessional ordinary capital resources, the Asian Development Fund, and other special funds. ADB’s ongoing sovereign portfolio in Bangladesh includes 64 loans and 1 grant worth $10.5 billion.
The first tranche ($400 million) of a corridor road project will help construct the 210-kilometer Dhaka–Sylhet highway. An additional $13.5 million loan will scale up an ongoing project to modernize irrigation and improve the management, operation, and maintenance of large irrigation schemes.
In 2021, ADB provided $9.6 million in grants and technical assistance to Bangladesh for reforming social protection and public financial management systems, capacity building for CMSEs, managing water resources and road safety and maintenance, and strategic transport planning.
Nonsovereign operations. Total outstanding balances and undisbursed commitments of ADB’s nonsovereign transactions in Bangladesh as of 31 December 2021 was $793.05 million representing 5.64% of ADB’s total private sector portfolio.
Operational challenges. Despite significant socioeconomic development over the past decade, Bangladesh still faces infrastructure and skills deficits. Insufficient capacity of the few executing and implementing agencies, and lengthy internal business processes often delay the project approvals and implementation

COVID-19 Response
ADB committed around $2.8 billion in loans, technical assistance, and trade finance and microfinance programs in 2021, including $2.4 billion for tackling COVID-19. This included a $940 million loan to support the national vaccination program. A $250 million loan was extended to improve the social protection system, and another $250 million loan was committed to help reform the public financial management, and mobilize revenue system.
A $150 million loan will help provide financing for cottage, micro, and small-sized enterprises (CMSEs) to create jobs for promoting socioeconomic recovery after the pandemic.
Knowledge Work
An important contribution of ADB’s knowledge work in 2021 for Bangladesh was a paper on monetary policy transmission mechanism, with its key finding that government loans via national savings certificates could weaken the effectiveness of the monetary policy transmission mechanism.
Other 2021 knowledge products looked at innovations for CMSEs, their cluster needs and incubation facilities, and a needs assessment for public financial institutions. These knowledge works supported policy dialogue on ways to accelerate Bangladesh’s socioeconomic recovery from COVID-19. The detailed preparatory work done for the country partnership strategy and the country assistance program evaluation 2021 provided a greater understanding of the critical impediments to development and the policies needed to overcome these challenges.
ADB Projects in Bangladesh Project data sheets for loans, grants, TAs
Shareholding and Voting Power
Number of Shares Held
108,384 (1.02% of total shares)
Votes
147,498 (1.11% of total membership, 1.7% of total regional membership)
*Overall capital subscription
$1.52 billion
*Paid-in capital subscription
$75.86 million
* United States dollar figures are valued at rate as of 31 December 2021.
ADB Governor: A H M Mustafa Kamal
ADB Alternate Governor: Sharifa Khan
ADB Director: Sameer Kumar Khare (India)
ADB Alternate Director: Md. Azizul Alam (Bangladesh)