, Sept. 3 -- The government on Thursday signed a US$1 billion loan agreement with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) for the Modernisation and Expansion of the Eastern Refinery Project.

The agreement was signed at the Cabinet Division of the Bangladesh Secretariat in the presence of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and the IsDB Group President Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, said PM's Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.

The financing will support the construction of the second unit of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), Bangladesh's only state-owned crude oil refinery, in Chattogram.

The project is considered strategically important for reducing the country's dependence on imported refined petroleum products and strengthening long-term energy securi...