IMF to lend $1.15 billion to Bangladesh

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to provide $1.15 billion to Bangladesh in the third instalment under its multi-billion-dollar loan programme.

The IMF staff and the Bangladesh authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the policies needed to complete the second review of the authorities’ programme supported by the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), IMF said in a press release on Wednesday.

Upon the IMF’s board’s approval, Bangladesh will have access to $1,152 million in financing, it added.

Bangladesh authorities adopted some critical, reforms to address macroeconomic imbalances, including the realignment of the exchange rate, adoption of a crawling peg regime, and the full liberalization of retail interest rates.

It is imperative to sustain the reform momentum and ongoing efforts towards macroeconomic stabilization.

The authorities’ reform programme supported by the IMF will continue to help Bangladesh navigate a difficult external environment and preserve macroeconomic stability, while accelerating economic reforms and delivering on their climate agenda to achieve sustainable, inclusive, green growth.