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funds for energy imports.

The issue will be discussed in detail during the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC in April, Khasru told reporters after the meeting.

The government is already talking unofficially with many development partners for additional funding, The Daily Star has learnt from finance ministry officials involved with the proceedings.

“We have talked about the IMF’s requirements -- what is feasible and what is not in Bangladesh’s current economic context. Not everything can be implemented at once -- these need to be phased, because given the current state of the economy, we must proceed in a way that suits our own realities,” Khasru said.

Discussions with Bangladesh are primarily focused on policy measures, Srinivasan said, adding that IMF financing is fundamentally anchored in policy dialogue.

Key issues are being discussed with both the finance minister and the prime minister, with further engagements planned in the coming days.

Bangladesh, like many other countries, is facing uncertainty due to global developments, but reaffirmed the IMF’s continued support in addressing economic challenges, he added.

The IMF delegation also met with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

“We found an economy in a very poor state. To recover from that position, we told the IMF that the programmes outlined in the BNP’s manifesto are particularly aimed at overcoming this crisis. To lift the economy from such a situation, we need a number of reforms and a significant degree of deregulation,” Khasru said.

The banking sector is in a very poor state, the stock market is in bad shape and the tax-to-GDP ratio is extremely low.

“To overcome these challenges, we believe that implementing the commitments in our election manifesto is essential,” he said.

The government has already begun taking steps in that direction, such as providing Family Cards and Farmers’ Cards, and agricultural loan waivers.

Many development projects had stalled due to financial constraints, including during the tenure of the interim government.

These projects now need to be revived, he added.

After the Spring Meeting, a regular mission led by IMF Mission Chief to Bangladesh Chris Papageorgiou will come to review the $5.5 billion loan programme.

The government has asked the IMF to release the next $1.3 billion tranche of the loan by June, said a finance ministry official.

If the IMF mission can place it before the board in June, it may be possible to release the tranche that month. Otherwise, it may be released in July.

Earlier, two instalments were released together in June last year, but no further disbursement followed the fifth review in November last year.

Approved in January 2023, the IMF programme was initially worth $4.7 billion and was designed to be disbursed in seven instalments following periodic reviews.

The then Awami League government sought IMF support in 2022 as foreign exchange reserves came under pressure amid the fallout from the Ukraine war. By June last year, Bangladesh had received $3.65 billion in five tranches.

The Washington-based lender later expanded the programme to $5.5 billion in May last year following a request from the interim government.