Bangladesh Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said World Bank (WB) would provide support to develop the capital and bond markets. 

“We need to give efforts to develop the economy for the present stage. For this reason, we will have to build up our capacity. The bank will provide support to build up capacity,” he said on Thursday.

The comments came after a meeting with Zoubida Kherous Allaoua, regional director of the WB, at his office on the planning ministry premises.

The provident funds of corporate houses will be brought together to develop the bond market and the prime minister has given her consent in this regard, said Kamal.

He said the bond market has not undergone any significant development.

If the bond market develops, it will have a ripple effect on the share market and small investors will be able to pour their money here, he said.

The minister said World Bank would provide technical assistance for regulatory reform and formulating policies to build up a strong foundation of the economy. Bangladesh needs a strong economic foundation for a good future, he said.

A six-member delegation of the WB led by Allaoua came to visit Bangladesh to assess the financial and private sectors. Once the assessment is complete, the bank will provide the technical assistance.

Allaoua said, “We find about diversification of financing access to corporate, especially for small and medium enterprises that have access to financing.”

She said Bangladesh has good potential for the SME sector and needs long-term finance. According to her, commercial financing was available in Bangladesh but it was costly. “Access to financing of the corporates is very important,” she said.

In replying to question of reporters, the finance minister said the government has no scarcity of money. He also said the debt to GDP ratio of Bangladesh was 34 percent, the lowest in the world.