Finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Sunday said that the government must increase the revenue generation to match with the gross domestic products.
Besides, the growing non-performing loans in the banking sector will have to be checked, he said after a meeting with the visiting International Monetary Fund officials at the secretariat.
The IMF mission is now in the capital on a two-week visit to review the current $4.7 billion loan programme.
Bangladesh has been running the IMF programme since 2023 to tackle the balance of payment crisis amid the shortage of foreign currency pulling down the forex reserve to around $20 billion in 2024 from $48 billion in 2021.
In the last three tranches, Bangladesh has received $2.3 billion under the loan programme.
The finance minister hoped that the disbursement of the fourth and fifth tranches under the loan programme would be made in June.
Responding to a question whether there was any discussion on the exchange rate, the finance adviser said that the matter was up to the Bangladesh Bank.
Responding to another question about the uniform rate of value added tax, Salehuddin Ahmed said that the transition towards such a rate would take more time.
Besides, the IMF has asked the Finance Division to cut expenditure in the budget to keep its deficit at manageable level, said the finance adviser.
He also said that the subsidy given under the budget to energy and agricultural sectors were expected to be highlighted in the current discussion.
The IMF called the country鈥檚 current economic situation stable, he added.
