Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an extended support and to release the next instalment of the ongoing bailout package by June this year.
Bangladesh would discuss the issues with the IMF high-ups in the upcoming IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, to be held in April, for getting the extended and timely financial support from the global lender, he said.
An IMF mission led by Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, sat with Khosru on Tuesday in Dhaka.
Bangladesh expects to receive the next instalment worth $1.3 billion from the IMF as the fourth and fifth instalments together were worth $1.33 billion, approved in June 2025.
The discussion with the IMF team was focused on the sixth instalment of the ongoing $5.5 billion bailout package, aimed at stabilising the national economy amid a persistent global energy crisis and internal financial pressures.
Amid the global staggering energy crisis, the minister held talks with a visiting IMF mission on Tuesday in Dhaka where he pleaded for the release of the next tranche.
Addressing the global energy crisis, the minister said the government was prioritising energy security to ensure industrial production remained uninterrupted despite rising international costs.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at the finance ministry, Khosru stated that the IMF programme remained "on track".
He acknowledged that the country's banking sector was currently in a "somewhat weak condition" and highlighted the need for a higher tax-to-GDP ratio.
"We are working on implementing reforms that focus on deregulation and reducing the cost of doing business. Financial stability is our top priority to revive stalled development projects," the minister said.
After the meeting, Khosru told journalists that the terms and conditions for the IMF's bailout package would be implemented gradually considering Bangladesh's socio-economic perspective.
"Everything cannot be done at once. We will rather do it our way," he added.
Khosru emphasised that the government was committed to structural reforms, particularly in the banking sector and revenue collection, to align with both the IMF conditions and the government's own economic manifesto.
Referring to Bangladesh's ongoing IMF loan programme, signed during the Awami League government, the minister said the arrangement would undergo a further review.
"This programme has been in place for several years. It will go through further review again, and there is no problem with that," he said.
"Alongside that, we discussed measures needed to stabilise the economy, particularly addressing challenges in the banking sector, as well as steps outlined in the BNP's election manifesto."
He added that economic recovery would require reforms and deregulation, noting that "the banking sector remains weak, the stock market is fragile, and the tax-to-GDP ratio is under pressure".
About the projects initiated under the Awami League government, the minister said many had stalled due to financial constraints and now needed to be revived.
"Reviving these projects will require economic stability, which depends on reforms," he said.
He added that the government was prioritising deregulation, ease of doing business, and reducing operational costs.
Bangladesh secured a $4.7 billion IMF loan programme in 2023, later expanded to $5.5 billion, with multiple tranches disbursed since then.
The programme formally began on Jan 30, 2023.
Bangladesh received the first tranche of $476.3 million on February 02, 2023, followed by the second one of $682 million in December.
The third tranche of $1.15 billion was released in June 2024, while the fourth and fifth ones, totalling $1.337 billion, were disbursed together in June last year.
The IMF mission's visit comes at a time when Bangladesh is navigating significant macroeconomic hurdles.
While the government has managed to keep essential commodity prices relatively stable during Ramadan, the ongoing war in the Middle East and global supply chain disruptions continue to pose inflationary risks.
