Dhaka pursues $5b IMF loan
Bangladesh is set to intensify negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a proposed loan package of up to $5 billion, with both sides agreeing to hold detailed discussions over the next two to three weeks to resolve outstanding issues and move towards a formal conclusion.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said the two sides had agreed on the principles of the proposal and that further talks would focus on settling the remaining details.
“In principle, everything is fine. Now, the two teams will sit together to discuss how to close the deal,” he said after a meeting with the IMF on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
The minister said teams from Bangladesh and the IMF would work through the outstanding issues before deciding how to formally conclude the matter.
The meeting focused on the final review of a proposal submitted by Bangladesh to the lending agency, he added.
Khosru also said multilateral development partners were working closely with Bangladesh and had pledged support for the government’s programmes.
He named the World Bank, IMF and Asian Development Bank (ADB) as key partners, adding that meetings with other development partners had taken place the previous day.
All multilateral and bilateral partners, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency, were keen to support Bangladesh, he said.
The coming year would be particularly important for the country, and development partners shared that assessment.
Bangladesh had been operating under a $4.7 billion IMF loan programme since January 2023, signed by the then Awami League government.
The interim administration subsequently increased the programme’s size to $5.5 billion.
In May this year, the BNP-led government decided to leave the programme eight months before its scheduled expiry. Bangladesh received $3.8 billion in five instalments under the original $4.7 billion arrangement.
The government later sought a fresh financing package and is now negotiating a new programme worth up to $5 billion.
Dhaka seeks new development framework
Alongside the IMF negotiations, Bangladesh is seeking a Country Partnership Framework with the World Bank under its five-year development plan.
Khosru said the government had drawn up a development framework for the next five years and wanted to formalise its cooperation with the World Bank through the proposed agreement.
Social protection to cushion economic pressure
Separately, Prime Minister’s Economic Adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir said the government’s proposed Family Card and Farmers’ Card schemes would help protect low-income people from the economic difficulties inherited from the previous administration and the effects of the Middle East crisis.
He said the IMF, World Bank and ADB viewed the schemes as effective.
The World Bank expects full implementation to reduce the poverty rate by about five percentage points, he added.
Titumir said around 80 lakh people had fallen below the poverty line under the previous government.
He also pointed to progress in revenue mobilisation, saying the government’s election manifesto had pledged to increase revenue collection.
Revenue grew by 12-13 per cent from mid-February to 30 June, compared with growth of around 3 per cent under the interim government, he said.
Addressing the banking sector, Titumir estimated that about $40 billion would be needed to repair banks affected by financial irregularities and looting. However, he said public confidence had returned to Sammilito Islami Bank.
The IMF and World Bank annual meetings are being held in Bangkok from 12 to 18 October 2026.
