The International Monetary Fund has set a prior condition for introducing a full 15 percent statutory VAT rate on 213 products before placing the $645 million loan proposal for the fourth tranche to its executive board.
Finance adviser talks about govt’s 3 strategies to ease economic strain
The interim government may consider a dearness allowance for lower-grade government staff to provide respite from the ongoing high inflation.
Subsidies for the power sector are likely to balloon 83 percent this fiscal year as the interim government is planning to clear all arrears owed to private power producers.
As much as $670 million (around Tk 8,200 crore) from slow-moving World Bank-funded projects will be repurposed, with most of the funds going towards budget support as the government looks to navigate the narrow fiscal space amid a slowing economy.
Over half of the government’s total revenue expenditure during the first four months of the current fiscal year of 2024–25 was on interest payments alone, mainly due to increased borrowing and a rise in the interest rates.
A task force formed by the planning ministry is going to recommend the formation of an independent centre for delivering government services via social media and utilising artificial intelligence (AI).
The interim government has increased interest rates on various national savings certificates to upwards of 12 percent in an effort to make these instruments more attractive to savers and to cool inflation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reaffirmed its support for Bangladesh’s interim government in overcoming the various economic challenges the country has been facing in recent times.
Distressed loans at banks totalled over Tk 4.75 lakh crore at the end of 2023 – a revelation that makes for a sobering read of the actual health of this vital sector of the economy.
Per capita foreign debt of Bangladesh more than doubled in the last eight years, according to official data, as economists attribute the hike to unplanned foreign-funded projects and corruption, ultimately ballooning the liability on low-income people, including the extremely poor.
The government’s interest payments against foreign loans surged 24.5 percent in fiscal year 2023-24, exceeding the Tk 100,000 crore mark for the first time in history, thanks to higher borrowing costs for loans from both domestic and foreign sources.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assured the interim government of providing more loans on a “fast-track” basis as Bangladesh expects $3 billion from the global lender.
Inflation is projected to hit double digits at the end of the current fiscal year owing to supply-side disruptions and higher import costs as a result of currency depreciation, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
For the first time, a proposal for a mega project will be sent back for further review as the interim government intends to re-evaluate all large projects to assess their usefulness carefully.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to give more reform recommendations to reduce subsidies and increase revenue collection for an additional $3 billion loan sought by the interim government, according to a top official of the multilateral lender in Dhaka.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation due to arrive later this month will assess Bangladesh’s potential financial needs as the country sought a fresh $3 billion loan from the multilateral lender.
The government has requested China to lower the interest rates on existing Chinese loans to 1 percent and extend the repayment period to 30 years.
