The International Monetary Fund (IMF), at its Executive Council meeting held Monday, approved the 3rd tranche – to the tune of $1.115 billion – to Bangladesh, under the $4.7 billion loan package.
This meeting took place at the IMF headquarters in Washington, USA at 9:30pm Bangladesh time.
Confirming the matter, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Mezbaul Haque said, “We are expecting the IMF to release $1.115 billion within the next two days. This loan tranche will help boost our foreign currency reserve position.”
Bangladesh had sought a loan from the IMF amid a persisting foreign exchange crisis back in 2022. After several rounds of negotiations, the Washington-based financial institution approved a loan of $4.7 billion on January 31, 2023.
After approving the loan agreement, Bangladesh received $476.3 million of the first installment at the beginning of February last year. And on December 12, Bangladesh received $681 million in the second installment.
Bangladesh has to go through several financial and policy reforms as part of loan conditions.
Market-oriented foreign currency exchange rates, removal of the 9 per cent interest rate limit on bank loans, disclosure of bank loan risk-based asset information, disclosure of reserve accounts according to IMF approved method BPM6, reduction of defaulted loans in the banking sector, development of the capital market are among the prescriptions.
