In March the World Bank delayed budgetary support worth US$300m, citing slow progress on governance issues, including anti-corruption measures and telecommunications licensing. Under proposed telecoms guidelines prepared by a local regulator, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, four main telecoms operators in the country-Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell-stand to pay higher spectrum fees, totalling some Tk280bn (US$3.9bn), when they come to renew their licences later this year. The companies along with telecoms analysts have said that the fees are both too high and irrational. Another area that has irked donors are government plans to introduce a law that would require the country's anti-graft watchdog, the Anti-Corruption Commission, to seek the government's approval before instigating proceedings against magistrates, judges or public bureaucrats.

The World Bank made no indications of whether the government's judgment to remove a pioneer of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus, from his role as managing director of Grameen Bank (a local microlender) had any bearing on the Bank's decision to delay its loan disbursement plans, but local media reports suggest that the authorities' treatment of Mr Yunus did have a partial impact. Mr Yunus has tremendous support among influential policymakers abroad, many of whom appear to be prepared to pressure the government to put an end to what they see as a political vendetta against him. The battle is as much about the microfinance pioneer as it is about donors' fears that the government may want to take control of Grameen and turn it into a tool of political patronage. Although the government has a 25% stake in Grameen, the bank is privately run and is widely seen as having been successful in helping to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh.