World Bank, IMF assure additional loans to Bangladesh: Finance Minister

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have assured additional loans to Bangladesh to help address the financial deficit caused by the impact of the Middle East war. Finance Minister Amir Khusru Mahmud Chowdhury, who is leading an 11-member delegation to the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC, shared the information with journalists after meetings with relevant officials on the sidelines.

On April 13, the finance minister held separate meetings with IMF Executive Director Uzir Patel and World Bank Vice President for South Asia John Zatto, among other officials.

After the meetings, he told journalists that beyond the instalment disbursements under the existing IMF programme, there is potential for receiving larger-scale assistance. "Instalment disbursement is one thing, but something better than that could happen under the programme," he said.

The finance minister said he is optimistic about receiving additional financing in the short term by June and in the next budget. The overall discussions have been successful. He expressed confidence that the deficit Bangladesh is facing can be largely addressed. Discussions are also ongoing with the World Bank and other development partners regarding budget support.

Officials of the delegation said Bangladesh has sought an additional $20 billion in emergency assistance by June. Bangladesh is currently under an IMF loan programme of $55 billion. Under this, $13 billion is expected to be disbursed in two instalments in June. Additionally, approximately $400 million in budget support is expected from the World Bank.

Amir Khusru Mahmud Chowdhury said detailed discussions were held with the World Bank regarding Bangladesh's current economic situation. Both sides showed a positive attitude towards utilising bilateral partnerships to address the crisis. Discussions also took place on programme implementation and next steps.

The finance minister said the World Bank is ready to provide all-out support to Bangladesh, including both policy support and financing. He said, "Since we took office, there have been various deficits in the economy. The war has created significant financial pressure. We discussed various steps to address these problems. The World Bank will actively cooperate both in policy and financial terms."

It is to be noted that the IMF has already announced $50 billion in emergency assistance for developing and low-income countries to tackle the impact of the Middle East war, while the World Bank has announced up to $25 billion.