Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Sunday said that the 3rd tranche of the loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be available in this June.
Mahmood Ali said this while replying to a question from the reporters after executive director of IM FKrishnamurthy Venkata Subramanian met him at his office at Bangladesh Secretariat here on Sunday.
“We’re trying to increase the flow of US dollars. It requires a lot of negotiations. Hopefully we’ll be able to resolve the problem and we’re also working in this regard,” he said.
The Finance Minister also informed that the IMF executive director had also informed him that Bangladesh was in the right track and they have support to Bangladesh in the way of resolving the problem.
He said that the IMF would provide the 3rd tranche of its total committed $4.7 billion loan to Bangladesh within this June while there is no barrier in it.
Ali said the IMF has also suggested the government to reduce the number of Non Performing Loans (NPLs). “We are taking actions against the loan defaulters and I want to grab the loan defaulters,” he added.
When asked whether it is possible to take action against the loan defaulters since they are powerful, Ali said, “You’ve noticed that action is being taken against the former IGP for his alleged amassment of wealth.”
Turning to the upcoming budget for the next fiscal year (FY25), he listed containing inflation, increasing foreign currency reserves and generating more revenues as the major challenges for the upcoming budget.
“We’ve some problems in our economy and we’ll have to overcome those. Steps will be there in the next budget to address those,” he added.
The Finance Minister also informed that various steps are being taken in the next budget to materialize the various commitments envisioned in the election manifesto of Awami League.
