Staff Reporter :
Initiate discussions on the release of the fourth and fifth tranches of a $4.7 billion loan, a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will start discussions on Sunday to review updated financial data before releasing the next tranches of the $4.7 billion loan.
According to the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance, the delegation will spend two weeks in Dhaka, engaging with various government departments to evaluate progress.
Key entities on their agenda include the Finance Division, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Power Division, Power Development Board, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), and the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
The IMF team is scheduled to hold a press briefing on April 17, marking the conclusion of their visit.
They will also meet Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on both the first and last days of their stay-April 6 and April 17 – to discuss critical aspects of the loan disbursement process.
Since the $4.7 billion loan programme began on January 30, 2023, Bangladesh has received three tranches totaling around $2.31 billion.
The first tranche of $476.3 million was disbursed on February 2, 2023, the second tranche of $681 million was released in December 2023 and the third tranche of $1.15 billion was disbursed in June 2024 and remaining two tranches, worth $2.39 billion, pending for release.
Earlier, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed emphasised the importance of the IMF loan for budgetary support during a recent pre-budget discussion with the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF).
He noted that the government and the IMF have agreed to release the fourth and fifth tranches together during the fiscal year 2024-25.
However, as part of the $4.7 billion loan agreement signed in early 2023, the IMF set over 30 reform conditions, including raising the revenue-to-GDP ratio by 0.5 percent annually. However, Bangladesh has yet to meet this target.
Likewise, obstacles including transitioning to a fully market-based exchange rate system still remain unresolved.
