The volume of overseas fund for the country's non-governmental organisations (NGOs) marked a substantial rise both in terms of disbursement and commitment during the first half of the current fiscal. Both local and foreign NGOs, operating in Bangladesh, received external funds worth $ 166.97 million during the July-December period of the fiscal 2005-06, official figures showed. The amount is nearly 61 per cent of the total foreign grant fund received by the NGOs in the entire fiscal 2004-05, according to the Bureau statistics. The inflow of such fund was recorded at $ 274.02 million in the last fiscal, showing a declining trend over the fiscal 2003-04. Statistics, however, revealed that since the fiscal 1990-91, the cumulative amount of foreign fund released to the NGOs has reached $ 2.98 billion. On the other hand, the amount of funds committed by donors to NGOs was also higher in the first six months of the current fiscal over that in the same period of last fiscal. Figures showed that the donors pledged grants worth $ 214.40 million for both local and foreign NGOs during the July-December period of the current fiscal. It was nearly 67 per cent of the total pledged amount of $ 319.37 million in the entire fiscal 2004-05. The cumulative volume of approved overseas fund hit $ 4.22 billion until December 2005. The official statistics, however, showed that after a steady trend until the 1995-96 fiscal, there have been ups and downs in the inflow of overseas fund over the last decade. Similarly, there had been mismatches between actual disbursements and commitments of external fund over the last 15 years. Responding to a question, an official source said despite a fall in the foreign funds both in the forms of commitment and disbursement in the past six months, the supply of funds from the government channel for micro-credit operations increased significantly. The government continued to raise its budgetary allocations for micro-credit operations under various ministries and agencies aiming to reduce the country's poverty rate through creating more job opportunities, according to official sources. Meanwhile, some 16 new NGOs -- 14 local and two foreign -- were registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau during the July-December period of the current fiscal. The number of NGOs in the country now stands at 1982, including 1793 local and 189 foreign.
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