Bangladesh Bank (BB) has made it mandatory for all Authorized Dealer (AD) banks and their Offshore Banking Units (OBUs) to submit information on private sector medium- and long-term foreign debt every month, replacing the previous quarterly reporting system.
The new requirement was announced in Statistics Department (SD) Circular No. 03/2026, issued on Thursday, with the central bank saying the move is intended to strengthen macroeconomic stability and improve oversight of the country's external debt.
According to the circular, monthly reporting will enable Bangladesh Bank to better assess the country's foreign debt repayment capacity, support effective macroeconomic policy formulation, and compile more accurate Balance of Payments (BoP) and International Investment Position (IIP) statistics.
It will also enhance monitoring of the overall financial condition of the economy.
Under the directive, the monthly reporting requirement will take effect from July 2026, with banks required to upload data through the Bangladesh Bank's e-returns portal within the first 15 days of the following month.
Banks must submit information using five Rationalized Input Templates (RITs) covering general information, tranche details, repayment schedules, transactions, and projections.
In addition, hard copies of ED-1/ED-2 forms and relevant loan agreement documents must be submitted to the Statistics Department by the 15th of each month.
The circular was issued under Section 45 of the Bank Company Act, 1991 (amended up to 2023) and takes immediate effect.
All other instructions contained in previous circulars on the subject remain unchanged.