Rejaul Karim Byron

After the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund has now brought down Bangladesh’s growth forecast for this year as political uncertainty, industrial unrest and floods weigh heavily on economic activities.

Bangladesh’s foreign debt servicing surged 29 percent year-on-year in the first three months of fiscal 2024-25 owing to the country’s expanded foreign loan portfolio and the rise in global interest rates.

The government is expecting at least $5.65 billion in budget support this fiscal year from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to expedite reforms.

The government has identified a dozen slow-paced projects funded by the World Bank, from which up to $1.5 billion will be repurposed and utilised as budget support or in other policy-based reform programmes.

Bangladesh could increase its output in the manufacturing, service and farming sectors by up to 29 percent simply by bringing more women into the workforce, according to the World Bank.

The Washington-based multilateral lender’s Business Ready (B-Ready) report, which was released yesterday, also places Bangladesh in the fourth tier of five stages for public service delivery, indicating weaker performance in this area too

The World Bank has slashed its forecast for Bangladesh’s economic growth by 1.7 percentage points to 4 percent for FY25 due to “significant uncertainties following recent political turmoil” and “data unavailability”.

Four years after its approval, the cost of the Matarbari deep-sea port project in Cox’s Bazar has escalated, while the deadline has been pushed back too.

Bangladesh’s banking sector was not well-managed in recent years. Banks mostly gave loans to their owners, rather than to creditworthy entities. Consequently, several banks are now in difficulty.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reaffirmed its support for Bangladesh’s interim government in overcoming the various economic challenges the country has been facing in recent times.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reaffirmed its support for Bangladesh’s interim government in overcoming the various economic challenges the country has been facing in recent times.

Distressed loans at banks totalled over Tk 4.75 lakh crore at the end of 2023 – a revelation that makes for a sobering read of the actual health of this vital sector of the economy.

Per capita foreign debt of Bangladesh more than doubled in the last eight years, according to official data, as economists attribute the hike to unplanned foreign-funded projects and corruption, ultimately ballooning the liability on low-income people, including the extremely poor.

The government’s interest payments against foreign loans surged 24.5 percent in fiscal year 2023-24, exceeding the Tk 100,000 crore mark for the first time in history, thanks to higher borrowing costs for loans from both domestic and foreign sources.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assured the interim government of providing more loans on a “fast-track” basis as Bangladesh expects $3 billion from the global lender.

Inflation is projected to hit double digits at the end of the current fiscal year owing to supply-side disruptions and higher import costs as a result of currency depreciation, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

For the first time, a proposal for a mega project will be sent back for further review as the interim government intends to re-evaluate all large projects to assess their usefulness carefully.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to give more reform recommendations to reduce subsidies and increase revenue collection for an additional $3 billion loan sought by the interim government, according to a top official of the multilateral lender in Dhaka.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation due to arrive later this month will assess Bangladesh’s potential financial needs as the country sought a fresh $3 billion loan from the multilateral lender.

The government has requested China to lower the interest rates on existing Chinese loans to 1 percent and extend the repayment period to 30 years.