Bangladesh to join new IMF programme by February, finance minister says
Bangladesh is set to join a new programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by February next year. Two working groups of the government are working with the organisation towards that goal, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists on Sunday (15 November) after inaugurating Bangladesh's first international debt conference at the Ocean Paradise Hotel in Cox's Bazar.
The finance minister said two working groups are working on the new IMF programme. Their work is expected to be completed by January or February next year.
Noting that the government has not fallen behind in taking a new programme because of IMF conditions, he said the previous programme was taken during the previous government's tenure. It contains some matters that are not possible for an elected government to implement.
Amir Khosru said that carrying out such reforms overnight would require decisions whose burden the public would have to bear. That would harm the economy and businesses would also face losses.
He added that an unelected government has no accountability to the people. It made decisions in its own way.
Noting that the world economy has undergone major change, the finance minister said the country's economic structure must be readjusted in light of that change. Development partners' activities are also being aligned with the five-year development programme.
He said the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are coordinating their activities with Bangladesh's development programme. If all partners are not linked to the same programme, implementing the planned work will be difficult. The IMF is also joining this coordination process.
