4th tranche of IMF's loan likely to be available by Feb 10

The fourth tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ongoing credit programme, amounting $645 million, is expected to be available by February 10, said Chris Papageorgiou, IMF Mission chief to Bangladesh.

"The IMF will place the fourth tranche of the $4.7 billion loan to the board on February 5," he said while speaking at a press briefing at the Finance Division conference room in Dhaka.

An IMF staff team led by Chris Papageorgiou arrived in Bangladesh on December 3 to discuss economic and financial policies in the context of the third review of the IMF supported Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

At the press briefing, Chris Papageorgiou said the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with the Bangladesh authorities on the policies needed to complete the third review under the ECF, EFF, and RSF arrangements.

"The IMF's Executive Board will consider completion of the review based on the implementation by the authorities of prior actions," he added.

He said the Bangladesh economy continues to grapple with persistent challenges and is facing emerging external financing needs.

To address these issues, he said, the authorities requested an augmentation of IMF financial assistance (SDR 567.2 million, approximately US$750 million) to maintain macroeconomic stability and strengthen the country's resilience to external shocks.

He said the authorities are committed to sustaining revenue-based fiscal consolidation to address the emerging external financing gap, tightening monetary policy to control inflation, and to fully implement exchange rate reforms to ensure greater flexibility.

They have pledged to establish a healthy and competitive financial sector and are advancing their climate agenda to promote sustainable, inclusive, and green growth, he added.

Source: BSS