Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said that although there is pressure on the Government to repay foreign loans, things are not yet dire.
“The foreign loans are being repaid, and Bangladesh has a good track record on it,” he also said.
Mr Ali told this to the journalists, after meeting an International Organization for Migration (IOM) delegation at his ERD office in Dhaka on 23rd February.
Data from the Economic Relations Division (ERD) show that in the fiscal year 2022–2023, Bangladesh paid US $ 2.67 billion in principal and interest on loans to different development partners, up from US $ 2.01 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Concerned officials report that once the grace periods for several loans that were taken primarily to finance development recipes ended, the amount of loan payback increased even more in the current fiscal year.
In addition, interest payments have increased as a result of higher interest rates brought on by the Government’s increased market-based borrowing.
At the end of the most recent fiscal year, the country’s foreign debt accumulation in local currency was estimated to be Taka 6.73 trillion, or 15.12 per cent of its GDP.
Meanwhile, overall inflation hovers around double-digit highs, amid price rises which the Government struggles to tame with import-duty cuts and market monitoring.
