IMF funds unavailable in March, proposal in June for two tranches: Finance Adviser

The fourth tranche of the ongoing USD 4.7 billion (USD 470 crore) credit programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not be available in the near future. The proposal was initially scheduled to be presented at the IMF executive board meeting on 5 February this year. However, this was postponed to 12 March. Now, the proposal will not be presented on that date either as it has been further deferred to June.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed made this statement to journalists on Monday following the finance ministry session on the second day of the deputy commissioners (DC) conference. The expected amount of the fourth installment will be USD 685 million (USD 68 crore 50 lakh).

The finance adviser informed the journalists that a joint proposal for the disbursement of the two installments (fourth and fifth) will be presented together at the IMF board meeting in June.

The adviser stated, “We have indicated that we have certain tasks to complete, so we are not in a hurry. Let me clarify something, you may think that we are begging for money. However, the reality is that we must adhere to numerous conditions and bring in funds based on our requirements. It is not simply a matter of agreeing to conditions and fulfilling them immediately”.

Salehuddin Ahmed said, “At present our macroeconomic situation is stable. Current account, finance account and remittance are positive. Therefore, we are not in a state of urgency”. When asked whether the proposal would be presented to the IMF board meeting in March, the finance adviser replied, “Not in March. We have decided to wait for a while. Let the proposal of two installments be presented together in June.”

In response to the question of whether the postponed is suggested by us or the IMF, the finance adviser said, “We suggested and they also agreed.”

The loan programme with the IMF commenced on 30 January, 2023. Since then, Bangladesh has received three installment funding. The first installment, amounting to USD 476.3 million (47 crore 63 lakh), was received from the IMF on 2 February 2023.

The second installment of amount USD 681 million (USD 68 crore 10 lakh) was received in December of the same year. And the third installment of  USD 1.15 billion (USD 115 crore) was received last June. In total, Bangladesh has received approximately USD 2.31 billion (USD 231 crore) from the IMF of these three installments.