The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the economic picture of Bangladesh is not very promising. Inflation has not been under control for a long time, which is much higher than the IMF's expectations.
Chris Papageorgiou, head of the organization's delegation visiting Bangladesh, said this at a press conference held at the Ministry of Finance on Thursday (December 19).
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed concern over the continuous increase in food prices in the Bangladesh market. For this, the organization has advised the interim government to take effective initiatives to reduce commodity prices.
Chris Papageorgiou believes that the reserve situation is also under pressure. He said that the Bangladesh economy is under pressure from inflation. Due to this, growth will decrease. Revenue collection has also decreased.
The IMF has also expressed concern over the printing of new money and its release into the market. However, the organization believes that the Governor of Bangladesh Bank has said that they will quickly withdraw the money they have released into the market. However, if it does not do so, inflation will increase further, which will further increase the suffering of the common people of the country.
Chris Papageorgiou said that Bangladesh will receive 645 million dollars in the fourth tranche by the end of February, and the same amount will be received in the fifth tranche. The IMF will conduct the fourth review in March or April before releasing the tranche.
He said that due to floods and student uprisings, GDP growth in the current fiscal year may be 3.8 percent. However, GDP growth is expected to increase to 6.7 percent in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
He said that Bangladesh has requested an increase of another 750 million dollars in the size of the ongoing loan program, and he said that 645 million dollars will be given to Bangladesh in the fourth tranche under the ongoing loan program.
Bangladesh has fulfilled the IMF's conditions regarding reserves. The amount of net reserves stands at 15.58 billion dollars.