The delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will start discussions today (Sunday) to review updated financial data before releasing the next tranches of the $4.7 billion loan package, reports UNB.
According to the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance, the IMF team will visit Dhaka to assess the conditions for releasing the fourth and fifth tranches.
The delegation will meet various government departments over the course of two weeks, starting from today.
The team is expected to arrive in Dhaka this (Saturday) evening.
During their visit, the IMF team members will engage with the Finance Division, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Power Division, Power Development Board, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), and the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
The IMF team will hold a press briefing on April 17.
On both the first and last days of their visit -- April 6 and April 17 -- the IMF delegation will meet Finance Advisor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.
Bangladesh has already received three tranches since the loan programme began on January 30, 2023.
The country received $476.3 million in the first tranche on February 2, 2023, $681 million in the second tranche in December 2023, and $1.15 billion in the third tranche in June 2024.
In total, Bangladesh has received about $2.31 billion from these three tranches, leaving the fourth and fifth tranches, totalling $2.39 billion, still pending.
Meanwhile, in a pre-budget discussion with the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF), Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed emphasised the importance of the IMF loan for budgetary support.
He said the government and the IMF agreed to release the two installments for the fiscal year 2024-25 together.
But sources indicate that there are three key obstacles preventing Bangladesh from receiving both installments of the IMF loan simultaneously: leaving the currency exchange rate market-based, raising additional revenue equal to 0.5 per cent of GDP, and separating the revenue administration from the NBR's revenue policy.
