Dhaka, July 7 -- Bangladesh is borrowing US$1.0-billion hard-term loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for much-needed upgrading of Eastern Refinery's oil-refining capacity by 3.0 million tonnes a year, officials say.

The government's Standing Committee on Non-Concessional Loans, headed by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, approved the borrowing of this foreign loan, recently assured by the Islamic Development Bank.

The credit facility marks one of the largest single-project financial packages ever extended by the Jeddah-based IsDB to a member-country.

The critical funding package is explicitly earmarked for the long-delayed Unit-2 expansion project of the state-owned Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) in...