A visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday met with the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor and discussed updated financial factors along with the progress of reform in the sectors.
A five-member delegation headed by Rahul Anand, IMF Bangladesh Mission Chief, started meeting with the BB officials in the morning on Tuesday, which ended at 3.0 pm.
Md Mezbaul Haque, executive director, and BB spokesperson told reporters that the IMF team discussed updated information on various economic factors with the several departments of BB including the progress in the use of the IMF's loan.
He also said that the visit was a routine process of the IMF's work and the BB participated in the meeting on behalf of the state.
Sources close to the meeting said among the issues prioritized in the discussion are efforts to unify multiple exchange rates, making lending interest rates market-oriented, and the process of calculating foreign reserves under the IMF definition.
During its (IMF) April 25 to May 2 visit the mission will hold meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Finance's Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Bangladesh Bank, and National Board of Revenue (NBR), sources said.
Bangladesh applied to the IMF for a loan to stabilize the economy amid dwindling forex reserves and agreed to pursue reforms on certain issues.
Read more: Bangladesh receives 1st instalment of IMF’s $4.7 billion loan: BB spokesperson
Before and after receiving the first $476.2 million tranche in February, Bangladesh took several steps to reform the structure of its financial sector and its policies, including reducing subsidies by raising the price of power and gas, and fuel.
The foreign exchange crisis in Bangladesh eased after the global lender released the first installment of a $4.7 billion loan. After then, World Bank and Japan International Cooperative Agency
The IMF approved about $3.3 billion for Bangladesh under the Extended Credit Facility ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and about $1.4 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
Read more: BB set to announce new monetary policy