Govt seeks additional loans from IMF to fight forex crisis

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has called for additional loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as budget support to help Bangladesh overcome its foreign exchange reserve crisis.

The IMF Mission Chief to Bangladesh, Chris Papageorgiou, has assured that the issue of providing new loans will be examined.

Papageorgiou and Jayendu De, resident representative of the IMF in Bangladesh, held a Zoom meeting today with the finance adviser. Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder was also present.

An official from the Finance Division told The Business Standard after the meeting, "It was essentially a courtesy meeting. During the meeting, the finance adviser requested additional budgetary support from the IMF beyond the current loan programme. However, the adviser did not specify any amount for the new loan."

The official said, "The IMF has assured the finance adviser that it will look into the matter."

In January last year, the government signed a $4.7 billion loan agreement with the Washington-based lender. Bangladesh has already received about $2.3 billion in three instalments under the loan programme.

In a recent BBC interview, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur expressed interest in securing another $3 billion loan from the IMF in addition to the ongoing loan programme.

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received a $7 billion bailout programme from the IMF, raising hopes in Bangladesh for an additional $3 billion loan from the multilateral lender.

Officials at the finance ministry said the finance adviser and the Bangladesh Bank governor will discuss the possibility of this new loan with the IMF during the IMF-World Bank Board meeting in Washington next October.

Prior to that, an IMF review mission is scheduled to visit Bangladesh in October, and the matter is expected to be discussed during that visit as well.