Bangladesh not in crisis: IMF

Despite claims from different quarters of an economic debacle in Bangladesh, the International Monetary Fund has ruled out such speculations. 

The Fund's division chief in the Asia and Pacific Department, Rahul Anand, said that Bangladesh is not in a crisis situation and its external position is "very different from several countries in the region".

The IMF official briefed on the current economic situation of Bangladesh in support of his stand during an online conference on Tuesday, reports The Business Standard.

He said Bangladesh's external debt is relatively low, close to 14% of GDP. 

"Bangladesh has a low risk of debt distress and is very different from Sri Lanka," he added.

In refer to the Bangladesh government's loan appeal to IMF, Rahul Ananad said the request is "pre-emptive."

"The IMF stands ready to support Bangladesh, and the staff will engage with the authorities on program design as per the established policies and procedures of the Fund," an IMF spokesperson said following the request by Bangladesh government.

As the country recently faced several rounds of currency devaluation in the wake of dwindling reserves, Rahul said the devaluation of taka is not comparable to what we have seen" in other countries.

Even though Bangladesh's reserves have come down, he said the stocks are still high enough to cover four to five months of prospective imports. 

Bangladesh in late July sought a $4.5bn loan from the IMF, joining South Asian neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka in seeking help to cope with mounting pressure on their economies.

Bangladesh has sought the funds for its balance of payment and budgetary needs, as well as for efforts to deal with climate change.