Besides, there was no aid disbursement from a number of aid group donors due to political instability and the country's failure to bring about reforms that the donors said are necessary to curb corruption and improve governance.

Bangladesh received $294.76 million in foreign aid in the first six months of the current fiscal while it was $488.55 million for the corresponding period in the last fiscal, according to Economic Relations Division (ERD) figures.

"Of the amount, only $20.14 million came from different bilateral donor countries," an ERD official said quoting from official documents.

Of the donors, the World Bank provided $91 million in the first half of the current fiscal while it contributed $633 million by the time last year.

The official said a number of donor countries did not come up with any financial assistance mainly for the country's non-conforming to the reforms prescribed by the donors. The past BNP-Jamaat government's reluctance to release funds for the donor-funded development projects only compounded the situation.

He said things have gone from bad to worse because of the political turmoil that followed President Iajuddin Ahmed's taking over as the chief of the caretaker government.

ERD sources said the countries and bilateral partners that did not give any aid to Bangladesh in the first six months included the US, UK, European Union (EU), Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Unicef.

However, encouraged by some recent moves of the interim administration, the donor countries have showed interest in releasing aid for different development projects. They have suggested that the caretaker government arrange a meeting on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) implementation in Dhaka by March to find ways of quick disbursement.

An ERD official said around $7.06 billion in foreign aid was in the pipeline as per data as of December 2006 and the donors might still initiate measures to disburse the amount if the government acts to that end.

Envoys of different countries and officials of donor agencies met the chief adviser and finance adviser in the last few days and pledged support in the development projects.

After a meeting with the finance adviser on January 28, US Ambassador Patricia Butenis told the press that her government had raised the annual assistance to Bangladesh by 10 percent and such support would be increased even more in the next fiscal year.

The same day, British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury told the journalists that he had discussed with the finance adviser how to continue the existing projects so that their progress is not hindered.

Officials of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) too held meetings with the government high-ups and pledged increased support in the coming days.

On Wednesday, ERD Secretary Md Aminul Islam Bhuiyan led a government delegation at a meeting with the local consultative group (LCG) of donors.

He apprised the LCG of the present caretaker government's commitment to reforms and speeding up the development programmes. He also called on them to release funds already in the pipeline to accelerate implementation of the donor-funded ADP programmes.

At the meet, the LCG asked for a progress report on the 11-point action plan agreed by the government and its development partners to implement before the next PRSP Implementation Forum Meeting (PIFM).

The LCG delegation led by USAID country chief Gene George also proposed convening the fourth meeting of the Joint Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of PRSPs in the third week of February.

Sources said a committee comprising members from the donors and the government will meet later this month to monitor implementation and progress of the PRSPs.