Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman leaves Dhaka tomorrow for the US on a three-week official visit.

He will attend the high level plenary meeting on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the UN Headquarters to be held from September 14-16. He will also attend the annual meetings of the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) slated for September 19-23.

The minister will also meet the WB and IMF executives as well as a number of US congressmen during the visit, finance ministry sources said.

A source said Saifur is going to raise the issue of tagging hard conditions by the donor agencies while giving loans and aids to the developing countries like Bangladesh, which makes it difficult for the governments to implement the poverty reduction programme in their respective countries.

He will try to make them understand how difficult it becomes for a democratic government to fulfil those conditions in the given sociopolitical circumstances.

In his meetings with WB and IMF executives, Saifur is going to apprise them of the various reform programmes the government has undertaken, including initiatives to improve law and order situation, eradicate corruption and facilitate good governance.

He will also try to persuade the WB to release the third tranche of Development Support Credit, as well as make sure that the next instalment of IMF's PRGF loan is available on time.

Saifur will urge the four donor agencies led by the WB, who are participating in the implementation of the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), to relax their tough conditions like administrative and judicial reforms.

He is expected to meet high officials of the UK Department For International Development (DFID) in London on his way back home for the same purpose.

Besides, the finance minister during his meeting with the US congressmen will ask for more access for the Bangladeshi products to the US market as well as try to restore the country's image against the backdrop of the recent bomb blasts.