The International Monetary Fund mission on Wednesday began its fifth review of the IMF鈥檚 ongoing $5.5 billion loan programme to Bangladesh.
Led by Chris Papageorgiou, the IMF mission met with Finance Division officials, including its secretary Khairuzzaman Mozumder, in the capital Dhaka on the day.
The meeting between the Finance Division officials and the IMF officials mainly focused on fiscal policies and their performance, subsidy arrears and the mid-term revision of the national budget.
The mission that will meet finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on November 6. The mission will conclude on November 13.
The fifth review is linked to the release of the sixth tranche worth about $400 million.
But the country is unlikely to get the tranche before the national election slated for February.
The IMF will wait for the new elected government鈥檚 consent to the continuation of the loan programme that began in 2023 under the Awami League regime, ousted in August past year in a mass uprising, to meet the balance of payment shortage.
The interim government that assumed power after the fall of the AL regime has already eased the balance of payment pressure.
The IMF has so far disbursed $3.6 billion under the loan programme.
During the last disbursement in June 2025, the IMF also increased the overall loan amount to $5.5 billion from original $4.7 billion.
The programme period has also been extended by six months to January 27, 2027 from July 2026, following requests from Dhaka.
The latest IMF mission is also linked to the Article IV report, an annual consultation with its member countries on overall economy, on Bangladesh.
