IMF talks begin over $4.5b loan

The International Monetary Fund yesterday started a series of talks with Bangladesh over a $4.5 billion loan the latter has sought.

The government is hopeful of securing the loan, said Finance Division's Senior Secretary Fatima Yasmin.

She was talking to journalists after a delegation-level meeting at the Secretariat in Dhaka.

The loan terms would be finalised once the talks conclude successfully, she added.

Bangladesh made a formal request for the loan in July and said it wants it in the form of budgetary support to shore up the depleting foreign currency reserves.

A high-level IMF delegation, led by its Mission Chief to Bangladesh Rahul Anand, is now in Dhaka.

The other delegates are Jayendu De, IMF resident representative in Bangladesh; Emmanouil Kitsios, economist; Piyaporn Sodsriwiboon, deputy division chief; Estelle Xue Liu, senior economist; Suphachol Suphachalasai, technical assistance adviser; Richard Varghese, economist; Genet Zinabou, economist; Saiful Islam, economic analyst; and Richard Mitchell, security consultant.

The team will discuss economic and financial reforms and policies with the Bangladeshi authorities during its stay till November 9, read an IMF statement on Friday.

The delegation's objective is to achieve progress towards a staff-level agreement on a prospective Extended Credit Facility (ECF) or an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, and access under the newly created Resilience and Sustainability Facility in the coming months, the statement added.