An International Monetary Fund mission is expected to arrive in the capital on April 6 to negotiate with the government over disbursement $1 billion in next June.
Finance Division officials called the coming IMF mission, to come just after the end of the nine-day Eid holiday, highly critical.
Availability of $10 billion loan from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Corporation Agency was linked to the IMF loan disbursement, they said.
The finance division officials also said that the IMF in the coming visit would review the conditions of the fourth and fifth tranches under the ongoing $4.7 billion loan programme to end in 2026.
So far, the IMF has released three tranches of the loan, including the opening one.聽
Earlier, the finance division, the main focal point of the loan progarmme began in 2023, deferred the release of the fourth tranche due in March after consultation with the Washington-based multilateral lender.
Bangladesh asked for deferment as tasks relating to two major conditions鈥攔evenue incomes and exchange rate鈥攚ere yet to be completed, said finance division officials.
On March 25, finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed expected that the IMF would disburse more than $1 billion with the fourth and the fifth tranches in June.
Dismissing the suspension of the IMF loan programme against the backdrop of deferring the fourth tranche, the finance adviser said that they must continue with the programme to win the confidence of other multilateral lenders.
Former World Bank Dhaka office chief economist Zahid Hussain said that the government still needed loan support from multilateral lenders as the shortage of dollars had yet to be over.
鈥楾he situation has improved but it is still tight,鈥� he said.
In the last three tranches Bangladesh has received $2.3 billion under the loan programme amid serious shortages of dollar, pulling down the forex reserve to around $20 billion in 2024 from $48 billion in 2021.
In June 2024, the IMF released $1.15 billion with the third tranche.
While releasing the loan, the IMF said that fiscal consolidation should prioritise the swift implementation of additional revenue measures, such as removing tax exemptions while restraining non-essential spending.
Coupled with monetary tightening, greater exchange rate flexibility and safeguarding foreign exchange reserve buffers would strengthen the economy鈥檚 resilience to external shocks, added the IMF.