The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said that about $645 million would be made available for the third tranche under the current loan programme taken by the Awami League government before it was ousted on August 5 amid a mass uprising.
The interim government which assumed power in August 8 sought about $750 million to meet the emerging external financing needs.
The IMF has already disbursed about $2.3 billion in two tranches, including $1.1 billion as the second tranche in June 2024, for maintaining the balance of payment that has been facing stresses since April 2022.
The IMF mission which concluded its fortnight mission on Wednesday said in a press release that it also agreed to increase the overall assistance under the Extended Credit Facility and the Extended Fund Facility to $4 billion from the initial $3.3 billion.
Resilience and Sustainability Facility, the other component of the loan programme, will remain unchanged at $1.4 billion, it said.
The IMF lowered the Bangladesh鈥檚 gross domestic product growth to 3.8 per cent for the current 2024-25 financial year from 4.5 per cent due to output losses caused by the public uprising, floods and tighter policies.
It is, however, is expected to rebound to 6.7 per cent in FY26 as policies relax, it said.
The IMF said that inflation would remain about 11 per cent on average in FY25 before declining to 5 per cent in FY26, supported by tighter policies and easing supply pressures.
It said that Bangladesh鈥檚 low tax-to-GDP ratio needed to be improved with urgent reforms by rationalising exemptions, improving compliance and separating tax policy from administration.
A comprehensive strategy is also needed to curb subsidy spending and address arrears in the electricity and fertiliser sectors, added the release issued by IMF mission chief Chris Papageorgiou.
