Bangladesh seeks $2b loans by June amid global energy turmoil

Bangladesh is seeking about $2 billion in loans from multilateral lenders by June as the new government looks to finance imports of liquefied natural gas and other fuels during the summer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s administration expects to receive $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund under an existing program, along with about $700 million from the Asian Development Bank, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private.

The funds are part of a broader strategy to ensure uninterrupted power supplies during the summer without raising domestic prices. They will also help ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and planning, confirmed the talks are ongoing but declined to disclose the amount being discussed.

“We’re negotiating an interest rate which is a bit lower than the market rate,” he said. “There is reasonable progress with the Asian Development Bank, so we will definitely get that. We’ll likely get the IMF as well.”

The Ministry of Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bangladesh spends roughly $12 billion annually on energy imports, including crude oil, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and coal, according to government data.

LNG is the fastest-growing component of the country’s energy bill. In 2025, Bangladesh spent about $4 billion to import 109 LNG cargoes, up from about $3 billion for 86 cargoes in 2024.

Rising global prices remain a key risk for the nation. If oil, gas and coal prices stay at current elevated levels, Bangladesh’s annual fossil fuel import bill could increase by $4.8 billion – about 40 per cent higher than 2025 levels, according to Zero Carbon Analytics.