Bangladesh Bank Holds Closing Meeting With IMF Team

Bangladesh Bank has sat for a closing meeting with an IMF review team sent to monitor how the first round of funds from the $4.7 billion loan deal were used.

The meeting, chaired by central bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, started at 10 am on Thursday (October 19) and ended around 11 am.

The review team came to Bangladesh on Oct 4 to check on the progress and use of loan funds under Article IV of the IMF agreement.

The team laid out its final conditions for the release of the second tranche at the meeting on Thursday.

Bangladesh Bank finalised the policy targets regarding the amount of net reserves, the rate of defaulted loans, the reduction of the inflation rate, and the market-oriented changes to the exchange rate by next June.

The central bank will make a formal statement regarding the agreement and talks with the IMF at 2 pm.

A review mission previously came to monitor the progress of the agreement in May.

Following that visit, the IMF said that the second instalment of the loans given under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) could be released by the end of the year after review.

Before and after discussions on the loan agreement, the international lender sat for meetings with the government, ministries, departments, and regulatory agencies. Representatives of this latest review mission also had a direct meeting with the Association of Bangladesh Bankers for the first time.

After the discussions, the IMF’s head office will decide on the release of the second instalment.