Japan has signed its largest ever loan package worth dollar 3.1 billion for Bangladesh. Announcing this in Dhaka on Wednesday, the embassy of Japan said that the loan under its Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be given for seven projects of Bangladesh under concessional terms. 

The loan will cover the construction of Jamuna railway bridge in parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Bridge, expansion of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Projects and Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Highway improvement project among the seven projects. 

The loan carries an interest rate of 0.65 percent with a repayment period of 30 years including initial 10 years as grace period. 

Japan has been the single largest bilateral donor for Bangladesh since 2012. The total amount of its aid as Yen Loan has reached USD 22 billion (commitment base).