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.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday met with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

She said the IMF "would fast-track financial support for the government", according to a media release from the Chief Adviser's Office.

She said she had sent a team to Bangladesh "quickly" and it was now in Dhaka at the moment. The team will place its report with the IMF management board next month, according to the release.

Georgieva also said the IMF board could initiate a new lending programme for Bangladesh, based on the report of the team or it could also extend the existing loan programme launched early last year, the release added.

A four-member IMF team led by its Mission Chief Chris Papageorgiou reached Dhaka on Tuesday for preliminary discussions on the loan proposal and will stay until September 30.

In January last year, the global lender approved a $4.7 billion loan programme for Bangladesh.

Of this, $2.3 billion has been disbursed so far.

After assuming power, the interim government sought budgetary support from various development partners, including $3 billion from the IMF, to boost depleting foreign currency reserves.

Recently, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed told the media that they have requested additional funding from the IMF through a separate package.

He also said the IMF fact-finding mission that is visiting Dhaka will submit a report to the IMF board upon return to Washinton, DC.

A final discussion on the loan proposal will be held in October on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings. The finance adviser and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur are expected to attend the meeting.

On September 14, Julie Kozack, director of the IMF Communications Department, told a press briefing in Washington, DC that the IMF team visiting Dhaka would assess all the economic developments and any potential financing needs.

ELECTION DATE AFTER CONSENSUS

According to the media release from the Chief Adviser's Office, IMF Managing Director Georgieva pledged support for Bangladesh's reform initiatives, saying the Washington-based lender has sent the team to Dhaka to hold talks with the stakeholders over the matter.

"It is a different country. It is Bangladesh 2.0," Georgieva told the chief adviser when Prof Yunus gave a short briefing on the student-led mass uprising that ousted the previous regime.

Prof Yunus spoke about the six commissions formed by his government to recommend vital reforms to the election system, the civil administration, the police, the judiciary, anti-corruption and the constitution.

He said the government would hold discussions with the political parties on the recommendations of the commissions. Once a consensus on the reforms is reached and the voter list is prepared, the date for the election will be announced, he added.

Energy, Power and Transport Adviser M Fouzul Kabir Khan and economist Debapriya Bhattacharya also attended the meeting.

Adviser Fouzul told the IMF managing director that the interim government took just a week to "dismantle the architecture of crimes" in the power and energy sector.

Debapriya stressed the need for IMF support to bolster the country's balance of payment. He said the role of the IMF would be critical in stabilising exchange rates.