A sum of some US$1.20 billion is expected to come from four major development partners willing to support Bangladesh's interim government in economic recovery, officials said, as the country's forex reserves have long been on depletion.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has already started work to get the budget-support credit which will narrow down the income-expenditure gap in the current fiscal year's budget and improve foreign- exchange reserves, they said Thursday.
The World Bank (WB) is expected to provide $500 million worth of budget support to the government within this 2024-25 fiscal, a senior Economic Relations Division (ERD) official said.
Besides, the country's second-largest development partner-the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-is expected to extend $400 million in budgetary support by December this year, he added.
Additionally, the government is expecting at least $200 million worth of support from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and another $100 million from Korea.
Bangladesh is struggling with economic crisis, especially with a crunch in foreign-exchange reserves, over nearly two years.
Bangladesh's reserves have fallen to only about $20 billion from about $46 billion three years back, resulting in tightfisted spending for imports with its domino effect on production and consumer market.
An ERD official says: "The expected budgetary support from the four major development partners will give a cushion to the economy by way of boosting the reserves."
In addition to the expected $1.20-billion support, the government is also expecting disbursement of IMF's ongoing support to Bangladesh.
The deposed government in June last announced a Tk 7.97-trillion budget with a total fiscal deficit worth Tk 2.516 trillion.
Of the total deficit, the government has set a target to fulfil 36 per cent from external assistance. The remaining 55 per cent of the budget deficit will be financed from domestic borrowings, 6.0 per cent from the national savings certificates and the remaining 3.0 per cent from other sources.
In the last FY2024, the government received a handsome amount of budget support from different lenders.
The IMF provided $1.15 billion in the 3rd tranche of its assured $4.7-billion loan in a package deal, the WB approved $500 million, the ADB $290 million, South Korea $100 million and France $107 million.
Besides, the AIIB confirmed $400 million loan for helping government for its development works.
In a meeting with newly appointed Finance and Planning Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday in Dhaka, WB country director in Bangladesh Abdoulaye Seck affirmed their continuous support to the interim government.
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