The country鈥檚 external debts fell by $7.3 billion at the end of June 2025 due largely to the government鈥檚 high borrowing from international lenders.
According to the data published in the Bangladesh Bank鈥檚 report 鈥楧ebtor classification of external debt of Bangladesh鈥�, the external debts increased to $112.15 billion in the April-June quarter of 2025 compared with those of $104.80 billion in the previous quarter.
In the October-December quarter in 2024, the figure stood at $103.73 billion.
The government accounted for most of the increase as its outstanding debt rose by 9 per cent to $92.37 billion in June from $84.91 billion in March.
In contrast, private sector foreign debt declined to $19.77 billion in June from $19.88 billion in March.
Buyers鈥� credit, an arrangement under which companies use foreign loans to finance imports, also dropped to $5.25 billion in June from $5.39 billion in March.
Due to the surge in foreign debts, the interim government continued to face mounting overseas debt repayment obligations.
According to provisional data released by the Economic Relations Division (ERD), the government repaid $446.68 million in聽 July of FY2025鈥�26, up from $385.67 million in the same month last year.
Of this, principal repayments jumped by 24 per cent to $327.72 million from $264.88 million a year earlier, while interest payments slightly eased to $118.96 million compared to $120.79 million in July 2024.
Bangladesh鈥檚 external debts surged significantly from $23.5 billion in 2009 to over $100 billion in December 2023 driven by a borrowing spree under the Awami League regime mainly for financing large-scale infrastructure projects.
Economists observed that this massive build-up of foreign debts resulted from flawed fiscal policies and poor project execution during the ousted AL regime.
