New Delhi: After Pakistan recently got the second instalment of special drawing rights amounting to 760 million ($1,023 million) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bangladesh on Wednesday claimed that the IMF is ready to release $1.3 billion to Bangladesh in June.
The finance ministry of Bangladesh said that IMF was set to disburse the $1.3 billion funds after completing a fourth review of its $4.7-billion loan programme, which followed “a key breakthrough in talks on exchange rate reforms”.
The funds for the fourth and fifth tranches had been delayed as the IMF pushed for increased exchange rate flexibility, specifically calling for the adoption of a crawling peg mechanism.
The fourth review held in Dhaka in April was followed by additional discussions during the Bank-Fund Spring Meetings in Washington DC that same month. The meetings revolved around key reforms in revenue management, fiscal policy, and the foreign exchange system.
In a statement on Wednesday, the finance ministry pointed out: “After carefully reviewing all the issues … both parties have agreed on the revenue management, currency exchange rate and other reform frameworks.”
It added that with completion of a staff-level agreement on the fourth review, the IMF is set to release $1.3 billion set for the fourth and fifth installments together by June. To fulfill a key IMF condition, the government has dissolved the National Board of Revenue (NBR). It has been replaced with two separate divisions under the finance ministry.
$1,023 million for Pakistan
Earlier, Pakistan got the second instalment of special drawing rights amounting to $1,023 million from the IMF through the extended fund facility programme.
Taking to X, the State Bank of Pakistan said that these funds will be incorporated into its foreign exchange reserves for the week ending May 16, Reuters reported.
Last week, India had abstained from voting at the IMF’s Executive Board meeting, voicing concerns about IMF bailout packages for Pakistan. India had underlined that Pakistan has been a long-term borrower from the IMF with a poor track record of adhering to programme conditions. India had pointed out that the huge financial assistance provided has resulted in Pakistan accumulating enormous debt, effectively rendering it a “too big to fail debtor” for the IMF.
