IMF agrees $4.5 billion Bangladesh assist programme By Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) -The Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) provisionally agreed a $4.5 billion assist programme for Bangladesh on Wednesday as international inflation and the prospect of decrease demand for its garment exports raised dangers for its macroeconomic stability.

The IMF mentioned a “staff-level settlement” had been reached for a 42-month association, together with about $3.2 billion from its Prolonged Credit score Facility (ECF) and Prolonged Fund Facility (EFF), plus about $1.3 billion from its new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Bangladesh has turn out to be the third nation in South Asia to succeed in a staff-level settlement for loans with the IMF this yr after Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A staff-level settlement is usually topic to approval by IMF administration and consideration by its Govt Board.

Bangladesh’s $416 billion financial system has been one of many fastest-growing on this planet for years however rising power and meals costs due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have inflated its import invoice and present account deficit.

“The aims of Bangladesh’s new Fund-supported program are to protect macroeconomic stability and assist robust, inclusive, and inexperienced development, whereas defending the susceptible,” the IMF mentioned in a press release.

Bangladesh’s financial mainstay is its export-oriented garment trade, which is bracing for a slowdown as huge clients like Walmart (NYSE:) are saddled with extra shares as inflation forces individuals to prioritise their spending.