Japan today signed an agreement with the Bangladesh government to provide a $1.5 billion loans for Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-fired Power Project in Cox's Bazar.

Sharifa Khan, Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary, and Ichiguchi Tomohide, chief representative of JICA Bangladesh Office, signed the agreement at the ERD office in Dhaka's Sher-E-Bangla Nagar area.

Under the Japanese ODA loan, Japan will provide 217,556 million Japanese Yen (approximately $1.5 billion) for the project, finance ministry said in a press release.

The rate of interest of this loan will be 1.60 percent for construction, 0.10 percent for consultancy services, front-end fee 0.2 percent, and repayment period will be 30 years which includes 10 years grace period, it said.

This project is being implemented to meet the growing electricity demand and to improve stable power supply by installing 1,200 MW (600MWx2 units) Ultra Super Critical Coal-fired Power Plant in Matarbari.