The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $732 million emergency pandemic loan for Bangladesh.
IMF Executive Board approved the loan Friday (May 29) under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF).
This loan will help finance the health, social protection and macroeconomic stabilization measures, meet the urgent balance-of-payments and fiscal needs arising from the Covid-19 outbreak.
The outbreak "is severely affecting the two main sources of Bangladesh's external earnings, exports of ready-made garments and remittances," IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh said in a statement.
"Together with the measures to contain the spread of the virus in the country, the outbreak is expected to result in a significant slowdown of economic growth and the emergence of fiscal and balance of payments needs," he said.
It was the latest disbursement under the IMF's Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), which is aimed at the world's poorest nations and has been doubled in size to quickly dispense aid to those vulnerable to the economic effects of shutdowns to contain the outbreak.
In addition to increasing health expenditures, the government has focused on expanding food distribution and cash transfer programs to vulnerable populations, ensuring the payment of wages in export-oriented industries, and facilitating the provision of working capital to businesses and farmers, the IMF said.
This the 60th loan IMF has approved since Covid-19 began undermining the global economy.
