The foreign loan per capita rose 3 percent in the last fiscal (FY03) to $127.72 dollars against $124.05 of the previous fiscal. The share of grants shrunk by 3 percent to 33 percent last fiscal compared to previous fiscal's (FY02), according to official statistics.

In FY02, grants constituted only 35 percent of the foreign assistance while back in the early 80s they dominated with 51 percent share.

"This trend has emerged due to rigid conditions of donors and a general decline in soft loans," said a finance ministry source. "At the same time, we have tilted more toward supplier's credit and hard loans in recent years."

Between independence and June 30 this year, Dhaka has received as much as $1,110 million worth of supplier's credit and 84 percent of such credit was received in the last 13 years.