Bangladesh’s total outstanding external debt stood at the equivalent of $78.22 billion as of March 2026, with concessional loans accounting for nearly 62 percent of the total, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury told Parliament on Wednesday.

Responding to a written question from BNP lawmaker Md Mustafizur Rahman Babul, he said the government’s total external debt reached $78,223.448 million by the end of March this year.

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Of the total, concessional and non-concessional loans accounted for 61.97 percent and 38.03 percent respectively, the minister said.

He acknowledged that Bangladesh faces several challenges in managing its external debt portfolio.

Khosru noted that since Bangladesh graduated from a low-income country to a lower-middle-income country in 2015, according to the World Bank classification, the concessionality of external borrowing has gradually declined.

At the same time, the volume of the government’s external borrowing has increased significantly, which is expected to raise debt servicing obligations, including principal and interest payments, in the coming years, he said, adding that to address these challenges, the government has adopted a number of precautionary measures.

The minister said proposals for new external loans and related development projects are being scrutinised more rigorously to ensure that high-interest foreign loans are not used to finance unnecessary or low-priority projects.

“Only projects with high economic returns are being considered for external financing,” he told the House.

Khosru also said the government has intensified monitoring of externally financed projects to curb the long-standing practice of extending project implementation periods and escalating project costs.

In addition, work is underway to update the government’s Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS), while a Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) is being conducted to ensure that debt management remains sustainable and resilient, he said.

The minister further informed Parliament that the government will soon begin preparing a plan for institutional and legal reforms aimed at improving the overall quality and effectiveness of public debt management.

The measures are intended to strengthen Bangladesh’s capacity to manage its growing external debt obligations while maintaining fiscal sustainability, he added.