It also concluded the second review of Bangladesh’s arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), making available about $220 million to support the country’s ambitious climate change agenda.
This brings total disbursements under the ECF/EFF so far to about $1,856 million and under the RSF to about $439 million.
The IMF recently concluded the second review of Bangladesh’s arrangements under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility, offering about $928 million immediately.
It also concluded the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, making available about $220 million to support the country’s ambitious climate change agenda.
Further, the board granted a waiver of non-observance of a performance criterion for the floor on net international reserves on the basis of corrective actions, an IMF release said.
The country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 4.8 per cent in the first half (H1) of fiscal 2023-24 (FY24), while headline inflation reached a decade high of 9.7 per cent year on year (YoY) in April this year.
Looking ahead, real GDP growth is projected at 5.4 per cent in FY24, owing to the ongoing import compression and policy tightening, and will pick up to 6.6 per cent in FY25 as imports rebound and foreign exchange pressures ease, the release said.
Inflation is projected to remain elevated at approximately 9.4 per cent in FY24, but is anticipated to decline to around 7.2 per cent in FY25 on the back of the continued tighter policy mix and projected lower global food and commodity prices.
Following the exchange rate realignment, gross international reserves (GIR) are projected to gradually increase, IMF noted. Nonetheless, uncertainties around the outlook remain high and risks are tilted to the downside.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)