Bangladesh continues talks with IMF for fresh loans

Bangladesh is continuing talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure support from the multilateral lender in the current fiscal year (FY2026-27) to tackle economic uncertainties stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking to journalists at the venue of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok today, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Choudhury said Bangladesh had held several meetings with the IMF, with another scheduled for tomorrow or the following day.

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“Discussions are going on,” he said, without giving further details.

Bangladesh had been under a $4.7 billion loan programme with the IMF since January 2023, signed by the then Awami League government. The amount was later increased to $5.5 billion by the interim government.

In May this year, the BNP-led government decided to exit the programme eight months before its expiry. The government later applied for a fresh package, according to a June 3 statement by Ivo Krznar, the IMF mission chief for Bangladesh.

The South Asian country has so far received $3.8 billion in five tranches under the $4.7 billion loan programme.

The issue of financing from multilateral partners, including the IMF, has gained importance as geopolitical tensions and the war in the Middle East have increased uncertainty and costs for energy-dependent Bangladesh.

The government plans to seek around $4 billion in budget support from multilateral and bilateral lenders in the current fiscal year (FY2026-27), said Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and planning, at a high-level conference at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok recently, according to a UNB report.

At the 2026 Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Bangkok, Khosru said the World Bank had stood by Bangladesh and would continue to do so.

“We are going for a partnership framework agreement. It is under process, and future cooperation with the World Bank will be within that framework agreement,” he said.

“Our cooperation with the World Bank under the partnership is not only about existing projects. A global disaster is going on in the energy sector, and we need a cushion for this,” he said.