Bangladesh no longer reliant on IMF or WB: Finance Adviser

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has said Bangladesh is not reliant on the global lenders and does not wish to accept an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan with all its conditions.

“We don’t want to get the IFM loan with all its conditions. We are no longer dependent on the IMF and the World Bank (WB),” he said while talking to the reporters after two separate meetings on the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs and the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat on Tuesday.

He said IMF had acknowledged the macroeconomic stability of Bangladesh, including the stable state of foreign currency reserves and exchange rate compared to the situation in the last December.

While divulging the outcomes of his recent tour to the USA attending the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, he said that now in Bangladesh, the macroeconomic stability is far better as the IMF had also recognized it compared to the country’s condition in the last December.

“Without receiving any further fund from the IMF, we’ve managed to make stable the foreign currency reserves and the exchange rate. We’ve ensured macroeconomic stability without their support and this is a proof,” he added.

Dr Salehuddin said that the international financing institution would not be able to shoulder anything on the country.
“They (IMF) told us that they will continue while they have also said that they are arriving to an agreement,” he added.

About the upcoming project related support, he said supports are in the pipeline from ADB, the World Bank, NDB, and IsDB. “Regarding project support, we’re not apprehending any problem,” he added. 

Apart from separating the NBR, the Finance Adviser said that the IMF had earlier suggested for making flexible the foreign exchange market. “But, some issues are there to consider before making it wide open … since it is a major policy tool,” he said. 

He said if the foreign exchange market is opened fully, then the country can experience currency depreciation like in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. “But, we’ve told them that it is already stable,” he added. 

The Finance Adviser if there is any volatility in the foreign exchange market, then the multinational companies, foreign investors and private investors might get a wrong signal.

During his meetings with the multinational companies in the USA, he said giants like the Chevron, Mastercard, said that Bangladesh’s economy is now more or less stable while they are looking forward to engage. 

“On the whole, there is nothing to feel sorry for Bangladesh,” he added.