Economic reform activities will be taken forward according to government priorities: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that the elected government has been informed of the step-by-step economic reform program in discussions on a new loan program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to its priorities and needs.

He made these remarks to reporters after a meeting with the IMF delegation visiting Dhaka at the Finance Ministry's conference room on Thursday (July 16).

The Finance Minister said that the reform work will be conducted while maintaining respect for the elected government. At the same time, changes will be made in phases, in line with the times, as needed.

He said that discussions have been held with the IMF on what the basis of the new loan program will be. The framework of the new program will be based on the policy issues that were discussed earlier.

An IMF delegation visited Bangladesh on July 12. The team met with various stakeholders to gain insights into the government's policy goals, reform plans, and priorities. During the visit, various issues including budget framework, revenue collection, government expenditure, social security, salaries and allowances of government employees, energy sector, banking reforms, state-owned enterprises, and foreign financing were discussed.

After the visit, the IMF said that Bangladesh's economic growth could be 3.5 percent in the current fiscal year 2026-27. However, if the country fails to implement reforms in the financial and banking sectors, growth could drop to 3 percent.

The IMF said that Bangladesh currently faces challenges such as a fiscal deficit, financial sector weakness, and inflation. However, if fiscal reforms and banking sector weaknesses can be addressed, the economy can improve in the medium term.

Earlier, Bangladesh joined the IMF's $4.7 billion loan program to address the foreign exchange reserve crisis in 2023. Later, with the addition of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), the loan amount increased to $5.5 billion.

The current government has proposed a new program to the IMF after reviewing the previous loan program. Under the new program, Bangladesh is expecting financing of $4 to $4.5 billion.