Jaitley’s Dhaka visit to strengthen India, Bangladesh economic ties

Arun Jaitley will be in Dhaka from October 3-5 where he will inaugurate several projects; India has already offered $4.5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh, taking the total offer of loans to $8 billion.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley will this week sign an agreement with Bangladesh for a $4.5bn line of credit offered by India to help Dhaka build several crucial infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina during a meeting in April. The line of credit set to be formalised this week was announced by Hasina during the visit. (PTI file)

Jaitley will be in Dhaka October 3-5 where he will also inaugurate several projects on which the two countries are cooperating.

The $4.5bn line of credit was announced in April when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited India. A line of credit is a flexible form of a loan that allows a borrows — in this case Dhaka — to access funds anytime as long as it is within the limit.

The latest will be the third line of credit, taking the cumulative value to $8 billion in six years.

The signing of the Dollar Credit Line Agreement is likely to be held on Wednesday.

In addition, the ‘Joint Interpretative Notes on the Agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments’ will also be signed in a meeting between the finance ministers of the two countries.

He will also jointly inaugurate with his Bangladesh counterpart a new scheme for cashless transactions in visa services run by the State Bank of India on behalf of the High Commission of India.

The two ministers will inaugurate the Dhaka representative office of the EXIM Bank of India.

Jaitley is visiting Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Abul Maal Abdul Muhith. Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary, department of economic affairs will accompany Jaitley along with a 30-member business delegation.