Bangladesh holds talks with IMF for third day over budget support

The government officials held talks with the representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the third day on Wednesday on borrowing funds from the Washington-based lender to narrow the budget deficit.

Officials of the finance ministry, and the Economic Relations Division joined the talks with IMF representatives, according to two Bangladesh representatives who attended the talks.

Both officials requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media about the ongoing talks, reports bdnews24.com.

According to The Financial Express, Bangladesh has initiated the negotiation after a lapse of a decade with the hope of getting more than $1.0 billion as budget support from the IMF.

The bdnews24.com report said the size of the loan, interest rates, and the conditions were discussed at the meetings, the official said, adding that the discussions were at the initial stage.

Officials at the finance ministry said they were also discussing budget support with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The IMF extends budget support usually under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility, Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility.

Bangladesh took $987 from the IMF as budget support last time in the 2011-12 fiscal year under its Extended Credit Facility to stabilise the economy.