US$75 million OPEC Fund loan to support socio-economic recovery of Bangladesh

The Sustainable Economic Recovery Program (SERP) will ease small businesses' access to finance.

Under the program, the government of Bangladesh has introduced a series of reforms aimed at strengthening public financial management and creating a more favorable lending environment for cottage, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those run by women.

SERP, initiated by the Asian Development Bank and also co-financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Import-Export Bank of Korea, includes two sub-programs targeting specific reform areas.

The OPEC Fund’s loan will support reforms to expand businesses’ access to credit, provide concessional finance and ease collateral requirements. Easing liquidity constraints and strengthening credit flows will create more employment and income-generating opportunities – a core task under the government’s current five-year plan.

Although Bangladesh’s estimated 7.8 million cottage, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises account for almost 25 percent of the country’s GDP and support the livelihoods of more than 30 million people, they continue to suffer from a lack of access to finance. This has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact.

The OPEC Fund has supported Bangladesh for nearly five decades and to date has committed more than US$1.3 billion to the country’s real economy as well as the financial and education sectors.