In the first five months of the current fiscal year (July–November), no major friendly countries pledged any new loans.
The countries are: India, China, Russia, and Japan. Although these four countries did not make new pledges, they disbursed funds from previously taken loans.
In addition, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) also did not pledge any loans during the past five months.
This came up in the updated report on the foreign loan situation for the July–November period, published by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on Monday.
According to the ERD report, in the first five months of the 2025-26 fiscal year (July–November), donor agencies and countries disbursed a total of US$1.95 billion.
Meanwhile, $1.89 billion was spent on paying interest and principal on previously taken loans. This means that over the past five months, the government has had to repay almost the same amount as the foreign loans it received.
ERD sources said that Bangladesh received a total of $1.22 billion in loan pledges during the first five months of the current fiscal year. No pledges were received in November. Of the total pledges, $580 million came from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), while the World Bank pledged nearly $20 million. Other donor agencies and countries have committed to providing $625 million over the remaining four months.
In the first four months of the previous fiscal year, $520 million in loan pledges was received.
Loan disbursements by country
In the first five months of the fiscal year (July–November), Russia disbursed the highest amount of loans, providing $550 million. It was followed by the World Bank, which disbursed $430 million, and the ADB, which provided $335 million.
China and India disbursed $195 million and $90 million respectively, while Japan provided $85 million.