Bangladesh seeks record loans from International Monetary Fund

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh has sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), asking for a record loan of $4.5 billion to address the prevailing financial crises and continue the ongoing development works.

Mashiur Rahman, the economic affairs advisor to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said his country must assess very steadily all terms and conditions of the loan from the IMF.

He added: “Bangladesh has not reached in any adverse situation that it must take a loan with any rigid condition that people are scared of and the stress of the countrymen to be mounted for.”

All relevant departments of the government in collaboration with each other would justify whether the loan is necessary for the country or not, Rahman noted, saying: “Only then, we will make the final decision.”

Bangladeshi Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told local media on Wednesday that Bangladesh would start talks on a loan from the IMF.

“But Bangladesh will take the loan only if the conditions are favorable,” Kamal said, adding that the country’s $416 billion economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world for years.

Underling the impacts of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on the global economy, he added that the rise in energy and food prices has inflated Bangladesh’s import bill and the current account deficit.