Finance secretary Fatima Yasmin on Wednesday said that they were optimistic about availing loans form the International Monetary Fund through a successful negotiation over the next fortnight.
She came up with the optimism after the first-day talks between the visiting IMF delegation and the local side over the proposed loan deal worth $4.5 billion.
The finance secretary, however, underscored the need for more discussions to secure a final deal with the IMF while talking to reporters at the secretariat.
‘The discussion has just stated. It will go on over a period of two weeks,’ added the finance secretary.
A 10-member IMF team led by the mission chief, Rahul Anand, held a series of meetings with different wings of the finance division on the opening day of negotiation.
In July, the government asked the IMF to provide the loan against the backdrop of the sliding foreign currency reserve.
From a healthy position of $48 billion in august 2021, the country’s forex reserves fell below $36 billion in the current month because of higher payment for imported products including fuel oil, fertiliser and food items in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.
Of the loan, the government has sought $1.5 billion each for balance of payment and budget support, and another $1.5 billion from the IMF’s newly created Resilience and Sustainability Trust fund.
The IMF team will hold talks with the officials of the Bangladesh Bank, the National Board of Revenue and the commerce ministry about the conditions on the proposed loans till November 9.
The multilateral lender has already hinted at the necessity of major economic and financial reforms and policies for a successful negotiation over the proposed loans, according to a press release issued on October 21.
It said that the objective of the IMF mission was to progress towards an agreement on a prospective Extended Credit Facility/Extended Fund Facility programme and access under the newly created Resilience and Sustainability Facility in the coming months.
The RSF aims to provide affordable and long-term financing to help build resilience against climate risks by countries highly vulnerable to climate change, such as Bangladesh, the IMF added.
