The International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission has commenced its visit to Dhaka to evaluate the utilization of funds from the fourth and fifth instalments before releasing the next tranche of the ongoing loan programme.
The mission is being led by Chris Papageorgiou, the IMF’s Bangladesh mission chief, who also headed the previous review team. The assessment work began on Wednesday and is scheduled to continue until 13 November.
The delegation formally started its activities with a meeting at the Secretariat with the finance secretary. Around noon, the team also held discussions with several departments of Bangladesh Bank.
During the visit, the IMF delegation is expected to meet officials from the Finance Division’s Macroeconomics Wing, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Energy, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and other relevant government agencies.
Earlier, Bangladesh received the fourth and fifth tranches together in June. The sixth instalment is scheduled for disbursement in December. However, with parliamentary elections approaching, speculation has arisen that the next instalment may not be released on schedule. The IMF reportedly requires assurances from the next elected government that it will continue implementing the reform measures linked to the loan.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan stated, “They [IMF] have just arrived. Discussions will continue and they will observe our progress. Only at the final stage will we know their decision. We are hopeful there will be no problem in receiving the next instalment.”
Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed told the media that the sixth instalment might be released in March or April next year instead of December. If this instalment is not released as planned, discussions are underway about potentially merging it with the seventh tranche for a combined disbursement.
Previously, Bangladesh received the fourth and fifth instalments together due to delays in reaching an agreement over exchange rate issues.
To address its financial crisis, Bangladesh signed a $4.7 billion loan agreement with the IMF in early 2023, following several rounds of negotiations in 2022. When the most recent funds were released in June, the total loan size was increased to $5.5 billion.
The IMF programme for Bangladesh began on 30 January 2023. The first instalment of $476.3 million was received on 2 February 2023, followed by $682 million in the second tranche in December of the same year. In June 2024, the third instalment of $1.15 billion was disbursed, and in June 2025, the fourth and fifth instalments were released together, amounting to $1.34 billion.