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DHAKA, Friday (AFP) Bangladesh is facing an uphill struggle to get millions of dollars in aid as a World Bank-led donors consortium meets this weekend to discuss the country's reforms in finances and human rights, donor sources said.

Dhaka, which is highly dependent on foreign aid, will be seeking some two billion dollars from the Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) at its two-day meeting starting Saturday in Dhaka.

A donor source said reforms, human rights and rule of law would loom large during the meeting.

"We will look at how far things have moved on the commitments made in different areas by the government last year and also listen to the problems it is facing," the source said.

The pledges made at last year's meeting in Paris include reforms in the financial and energy sectors, shutting or privatising ailing state-owned enterprises, forming a national human rights committee and independent anti-corruption committee and separation of the judiciary from the executive. Since then Bangladesh has passed laws to streamline the financial sector, sold off or closed down a number of loss-making state-owned enterprises and adopted an Energy Regulatory Commission Act, which has given financial independence to all oil and gas companies. A source close to the reform plans said there were also initiatives on the rights and anti-corruption committee.

"We have made progress in many areas and some are in the process ... these are not easy things to implement," he said.

Aid agency sources said reforms were a priority.

"The government's poverty reduction strategy for the next two to three years is also important as most issues revolve around it," one agency source said. Finance Minister Saifur Rahman has warned of aid shrinkage in a changing world scenario and a need to boost domestic resources.

He said this week after pre-budget talks with professionals and politicians that the tax net would be widened in the budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year expected to be placed before parliament on June 12.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is expected to make a statement on the opening day of the meeting that will bring to together the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and several donor countries, including Australia, Japan, Britain and the United States.

The European Union (EU), one of Bangladesh's major donors, will be tough on the issues of rule of law, governance and human rights.

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