Bangladesh manages to avoid falling under debt duress

The Sino-Bangladesh relations, which began in 1976, were limited to trade deals until the first decade of the 21st century. Bangladesh always played the game of loaning from other countries’ smart.

Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Professor, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University, explained that Bangladesh needs foreign loans to carry out its national projects, highlighting that its most prominent lenders are the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the World Bank, and most recently, China.

He added that unlike Sri Lanka with its major Colombo Port City national project that is mostly funded by China, Bangladesh has managed to avoid being in the trap of debt.

He added that being a low-income country, Bangladesh is eligible for low interest and longer payment periods to repay debts. Khaled Kuddus, Professor, Department of International Relations & Politics of Jahangirnagar University.

Khaled Kuddus, who is a university teacher, said Bangladesh must look carefully into any loan agreement with China and discern whether the loan would be in the best interest of the country and how long will the repay period be.