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Bangladesh seeks $1.5b IMF loan in first instalment: Kamal

TBP Desk
09 Aug 2022 17:56:59 | Update: 09 Aug 2022 23:37:31
Bangladesh seeks $1.5b IMF loan in first instalment: Kamal
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal — BSS File Photo

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said Bangladesh wanted a first tranche of $1.5 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Kamal said this in an interview published by the British daily newspaper Financial Times on Tuesday.

Bangladesh sought a total package of $4.5 billion in loans from the IMF, including for climate change resilience projects and to support the government’s budget, the minister said.

However, the IMF said the total amount of potential loans for Bangladesh had not yet been negotiated.

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Kamal said the country is also requesting a total of up to $4 billion more from a range of other multilateral and bilateral lenders, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The minister expressed optimism that the country would get loans from them.

According to the IMF, Bangladesh had a total of $62 billion in foreign debt in 2021, most of which was owed to multilateral lenders such as the World Bank. The country owes $9 billion or 15 per cent to government borrowers from Japan, the largest bilateral creditor, followed by China, reports Financial Times.

The country owes about $4 billion or 6 per cent of its total foreign debt to Beijing.

Amid the impacts of Covid pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, Bangladesh has been hit hard by a rising energy import bill, with fuel shortages causing daily power cuts of several hours. Foreign reserves have also fallen to less than $40 billion, from more than $45 billion a year ago.

The finance minister told the British daily that everybody is suffering and “we’re also under pressure”.

Bangladesh was not at risk of defaulting like Sri Lanka, Kamal said, adding, “There is no way to even think of such a situation.”

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