Bangladesh needs to continue with key reform areas: IMF

Krishna Srinivasan, director of the Asia and Pacific department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has observed that Bangladesh needs to continue with the key reform areas on fiscal policy, where revenue mobilisation is a key part of the reform adjustment, and the second is on the financial sector.

"These are key aspects which we'll be looking at as part of the review which will be forthcoming," he said while speaking at a press conference at the IMF headquarters in the United States of America (USA) on Thursday. 

Addressing the status of Bangladesh's reforms under the IMF's US$5.5 billion credit programme, he confirmed that an IMF team is scheduled to visit Bangladesh soon to undertake the next review of the programme.

To ensure the success of the ongoing programme, he stressed that Bangladesh must continue focusing on key reform areas.

The IMF, in its Regional Economic Outlook, Asia and Pacific Department, released on Thursday, projected that Bangladesh's economy will experience a modest recovery in the current fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26).

The multilateral lender forecasted that Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) growth could reach 4.9 per cent in FY26.

This anticipated growth marks an increase from the 3.8 per cent recorded in the previous year, FY25.

In addition to GDP growth, the multilateral lender has provided projections regarding inflation. 

The IMF projected that Bangladesh's inflation is expected to fall to 8.42 per cent in FY26. Inflation is then expected to ease further, reaching 5.06 

per cent in the subsequent fiscal year.

The Washington-based lender also laid emphasis on several challenges that must be addressed. These challenges include the need for better reform implementation and concerns related to a slower-than-expected fall in inflation.

The IMF also highlighted constraints in energy supply and the risk of potential trade disruptions stemming from global policy uncertainty.