Home ›› 08 May 2023 ›› Front
Bangladesh is still one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region against a challenging economic backdrop, but inflationary pressure, global financial volatility and a slowdown in major trading partners are continuing to impact growth and foreign currency reserves.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team, led by Rahul Anand, mission chief for Bangladesh, conducted a staff visit to Dhaka from April 25 to May 7, to discuss recent macroeconomic developments and implementation of the IMF-supported programmes.
Anand made the remark in a statement issued at the end of the delegation’s visit.
He said, “During the visit, we discussed recent macroeconomic and financial sector developments. We also took stock of the progress made toward meeting key commitments under the Fund-supported programme.
“This will be formally assessed in the first review of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) / Extended Fund Facility (EFF) / Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangements, which is expected to be undertaken later this year.”
He added, “The IMF team held meetings with Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, Finance Secretary Fatima Yasmin, and other senior government and Bangladesh Bank officials.
“We also met with representatives from the private sector, bilateral donors, and development partners. We would like to thank the authorities for candid discussions and their warm hospitality.”
The IMF looks forward to continuing its engagement in support of Bangladesh and its people, read the statement.
Many countries, including Bangladesh, are suffering from economic crises due to the impact of the global recession triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. To overcome the situation, Bangladesh and many other countries have sought loans from the IMF.
In July last year, Bangladesh sought a $4.5 billion loan from IMF to overcome the negative impact of the global recession.
But the IMF’s board approved $4.7 billion, which is $200 million more than requested.
The first instalment of the loan, $476.1 million, was disbursed in February this year. The remaining $4.69 billion will be released in six instalments every six months by December 2026.
