Staff Reporter ঃ
A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Chief Chris Papadakis, is scheduled to visit Bangladesh this week to review the country’s performance and compliance with the structural reform conditions set by the IMF.
During the visit, the team will hold a series of meetings with key officials from the Finance Ministry, Power and Energy Ministry, Bangladesh Bank, the National Board of Revenue, and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
The mission will primarily focus on evaluating Bangladesh’s economic performance before releasing the fourth tranche of the US$4.7 billion loan, which was finalised under multiple stipulated conditions.
Bangladesh is on track to meet 12 of the conditions required to qualify for the loan. In October, Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur attended the IMF’s Annual General Meeting, where they requested an additional $3 billion to address emerging economic challenges.
In the previous three tranches of IMF loans, Bangladesh had fallen short of meeting certain conditions, but the loans were still released.
According to IMF targets, the government was expected to collect Tk394,530 crore in taxes by June this year.
However, Finance Division data shows that the revenue collection stood at Tk369,209 crore, missing the target by Tk25,321 crore.
Initially, Bangladesh was required to maintain a net international reserve (NIR) of $20.11 billion by 30 June. The IMF later revised this target to $14.79 billion. As of 30 June, Bangladesh reported an NIR of $16.7 billion.
The IMF approved the $4.7 billion loan in January 2023 to help Bangladesh address a foreign currency crunch caused by various irregularities and corruption. Bangladesh received the first tranche of $476 million in February 2023, followed by $681 million in December and $1.15 billion in June this year.
