IMF funds unavailable in March, proposal in June for two tranches: Finance Adviser

The fourth tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) current USD 4.7 billion (USD 470 crore) financing program won’t be accessible anytime soon. Originally, the idea was supposed to be submitted on February 5th, this year, at the IMF executive board meeting. This was rescheduled for March 12 instead. The plan has now been postponed until June, so it won’t be presented on that day either.

On Monday, after the finance ministry session on the second day of the deputy commissioners (DC) conference, Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters this. The expected amount of the fourth installment will be USD 685 million (USD 68 crore 50 lakh).

The finance adviser informed the journalists that a joint proposal for the disbursement of the two installments (fourth and fifth) will be presented together at the IMF board meeting in June.

The adviser stated, “We have indicated that we have certain tasks to complete, so we are not in a hurry. Let me clarify something, you may think that we are begging for money. However, the reality is that we must adhere to numerous conditions and bring in funds based on our requirements. It is not simply a matter of agreeing to conditions and fulfilling them immediately”.

Salehuddin Ahmed said, “At present our macroeconomic situation is stable. Current account, finance account and remittance are positive. Therefore, we are not in a state of urgency”. When asked whether the proposal would be presented to the IMF board meeting in March, the finance adviser replied, “Not in March. We have decided to wait for a while. Let the proposal of two installments be presented together in June.”

The finance adviser responded, “We suggested and they also agreed,” when asked if the IMF or we were the ones who recommended the postponement.

On January 30, 2023, the IMF loan program got underway. Three installments of funding have since been given to Bangladesh. On February 2, 2023, USD 476.3 million (47 crore 63 lakh), the first tranche, was received from the IMF.

In December of the same year, USD 681 million (USD 68 crore 10 lakh) was received as the second installment. Additionally, last June saw the receipt of the third tranche, which totaled USD 1.15 billion (USD 115 crore). Over the course of these three installments, Bangladesh has received almost USD 2.31 billion (USD 231 crore) from the IMF.