IMF team due Tuesday to settle 2nd loan instalment

A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is due in Dhaka Tuesday to discuss the progress in the use of the first tranche of its $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh and release of the second instalment.

The Ministry of Finance and the Bangladesh Bank sources confirmed UNB on Monday that during its April 25 to May 2 visit, the IMF team will hold meetings with officials of the ministry’s Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Bangladesh Bank, and National Board of Revenue (NBR).

IMF Asia and Pacific Division Head Rahul Anand will be leading the team comprising three to four members, finance ministry sources said.

Md Mesbaul Haque, executive director and Bangladesh Bank spokesperson, said that on behalf of the government the central bank will have several meetings with the IMF team during the visit.  

Bangladesh has received the first tranche of $476.2 million of the $4.7 billion loan approved by the IMF on January 30.

The entire amount of the loan will be paid in seven instalments over three and a half years, until 2026. As such, there are six more instalments left.

A senior official of the ministry said the IMF usually reviews various aspects of compliance before disbursing each tranche. Accordingly, an IMF team will come next September to review the fulfilment of loan conditions before disbursing the second tranche.

Usually before each budget announcement, an IMF mission comes to Dhaka to discuss budget assistance. Now that the loan programme is on, besides budget assistance, issues of fulfilling the loan conditions will also come up for discussion, said the sources. 

The foreign exchange crisis in Bangladesh eased after the global lender released the first instalment of the $4.7 billion loan.

The IMF approved about $3.3 billion under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and about $1.4 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility for Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Bank received the first instalment of $476 million from the IMF on February 2.