IMF Director meets PM, discusses $1.3 billion waiver

Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made a curtest call on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

The meeting took place at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The matter was announced in a post on the verified Facebook page of the Prime Minister's Office.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Finance Adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir and Finance Secretary Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder were present at the meeting.

The meeting discussed the waiver of two installments of the IMF's suspended loan programme. 

Finance Ministry officials believe that Bangladesh can soon receive about $1.30 billion if progress is made in implementing the conditions.

Bangladesh has sought an additional $2 billion in loan assistance from various organisations including the IMF, the World Bank and others to cope with the pressure on energy imports amid ongoing geopolitical tensions centered on Iran. 

Prime Minister's Advisor Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir recently gave this information.

The Economic Relations Division (ERD) said that the progress of the reform programme will be reviewed in the meeting with the IMF. 

However, several officials of the Ministry of Finance say that important conditions such as revenue collection, restructuring of the NBR, increasing the autonomy of Bangladesh Bank and introducing a market-based exchange rate have not yet been fully implemented.

In the context of the Corona pandemic and the post-Ukraine war, Bangladesh signed a loan agreement with the IMF for $ 4.70 billion on January 30, 2023. 

Later, the term was extended, bringing the total loan amount to $ 5.5 billion. So far, $ 3.64 billion has been disbursed while about $ 1.86 billion is left.

Although one installment was supposed to be disbursed last December, the IMF decided to approve it after discussions with the elected government.