(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund has agreed to fast-track financial assistance to Bangladesh for supporting the new government’s efforts to implement key reforms, according to a statement from the office of the nation’s chief adviser
A team of IMF officials, currently visiting Dhaka for talks with Bangladeshi authorities, will submit its report to the lender’s management board next month. The offer to accelerate the assistance came as IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva met the South Asian country’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York Tuesday.
After Yunus took over as the head of the new administration on Aug. 8, Bangladesh sought $3 billion in additional funds from the IMF to rebuild foreign currency reserves as it is under pressure to pay bills for overseas purchases. This will be in addition to the $4.7 billion loan program with the Washington-based lender.
The IMF board can start a new lending program for Bangladesh based on the report of the team or it may extend additional funds under the existing program, Yunus’s office said, citing his talks with Georgieva.
The Nobel laureate, who emerged as the consensus leader after a student-led uprising ousted Sheikh Hasina’s regime, also spoke to Georgieva about the six commissions formed by his interim government to recommend reforms in constitution, electoral systems, judiciary, police, the anti-corruption agency and public administration.
“Once the consensus on the reforms is reached and the voter list is prepared, the date for the vote will be announced,” the statement cited Yunus as saying. The reform panels are expected to formally begin work on Oct. 1 and complete their reports in three months.
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