International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assured of continued support to Bangladesh’s aspirations to become a developed and higher-income country by 2041. IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Monsio Sayeh made the assurance during a meeting today (January 16, 2023) with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter’s official residence Ganabhaban. PM’s speechwriter Md Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting. “Bangladesh aspires to become a developed, prosperous, and higher-income country by 2041. The IMF will continue to support this aspiration,” the IMF senior official was quoted as saying. Read more: Bangladesh Bank expects first instalment of $4.5 b IMF loan to arrive by next month: Spokesman She said the IMF has a long-standing partnership with Bangladesh. “The IMF cherishes this partnership. I have come here to strengthen the partnership further,” Sayeh was quoted. She said the whole world is facing challenges due to the staggering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. In this situation, emerging economies like Bangladesh are facing various problems, particularly inflation, price-hike of commodities and pressure on foreign exchange reserves, the IMF deputy managing director said. The IMF will assist in Bangladesh’s efforts to face these problems, she assured. Read more: IMF DMD arrives in Dhaka today to finalize $4.5 billion loan The prime minister said the pace of the country’s progress has slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and resulting sanctions, counter-sanctions. Bangladesh is also facing difficulties due to price hike of commodities, she said, adding that the government has widened the social safety net and expanded food programmes to support the lower income people. Sheikh Hasina told the IMF official that her government has undertaken development programmes targeting poverty alleviation and food security. She said Bangladesh is bringing fallow lands under cultivation to boost food production. Read more: IMF’s DMD due in Dhaka on Jan 14 to finalise $4.5bn loan deal Lower-income people are suffering due to high inflation even in many developed countries, she added. ‘SEEKING IMF ASSISTANCE NOT AS BAILOUT, BUT AS PRE-EMPTIVE MEASURE’ The PM said Bangladesh has sought assistance from the IMF as a pre-emptive measure. “We have sought assistance from the IMF not as a bailout, but as a pre-emptive measure.” The IMF deputy managing director praised the socio-economic transformation under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She said Bangladesh has been maintaining some 6 percent GDP growth over the last decade. Read More: IMF loan is like a character certificate: PM’s advisor Mashiur Besides, women empowerment, girls’ education, community clinics and ICT came up for discussion during the meeting. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, PM’s International Relation Affairs Adviser Professor Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Principal Secretary M. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, Senior Finance Secretary Fatima Yasmin and IMF Resident Representative in Dhaka Jayendu De were present at the meeting. At the meeting, the IMF delegation handed over two photographs to the prime minister, which were taken when Bangladesh signed the IMF’s Articles of Agreement on August 17, 1972 to obtain its membership. Read More: IMF acknowledges Bangladesh’s outstanding socioeconomic progress: Finance Minister

The Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, arrives in Dhaka today (January 14, 2023) for a 5-day visit. She will stay in Dhaka till January 18. During her visit, Sayeh will meet with the prime minister, finance minister, governor of Bangladesh Bank and other senior officials of the government. According to finance ministry sources, Sayeh is coming to Dhaka from Delhi after completing her current Indian visit. The IMF DMD will visit Padma Bridge on January 18. A meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled for January 16. Sayeh will report to the IMF headquarters regarding the $4.5 billion loan for Bangladesh to combat the global recession. Read more: Govt works to implement IMF conditions to get $4.5 billion loan: Official The report will be presented at the IMF board meeting. Based on this, the process of providing the loan will be finalized. The government has reached an in-principle agreement on the loan with the IMF. Now only the formalities remain. Some conditions have already been implemented. Electricity prices were hiked by an average of 5 percent on Thursday to implement another IMF condition. The government will seek some time to implement some other IMF conditions. Read more: Government working on IMF’s conditions to get $4.5 billion loan Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank will announce the new monetary policy for the period from January to June of the current financial year tomorrow in accordance with the conditions of the IMF. It will give the impression of raising the loan interest rate to a limited extent. At the same time, monetary policy will be used to control the rate of inflation. For this reason, the matter of increasing the policy interest rate of the central bank is also in the process. The government hopes to receive the first installment of the IMF loan in February. For the first installment, $45.45 crore will be received. Thereafter one installment will be made every six months. Read More: IMF loan is like a character certificate: PM’s advisor Mashiur