International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Asia and Pacific Department Division Chief Rahul Anand said Bangladesh is not in a crisis and its external position is very different from several countries in the South East Asia.
"Bangladesh is not in a crisis. It is in a quite different situation from some of the neighbouring countries. Even though the reserves have come down recently, they (Bangladesh) are still high enough to cover 4-5 months of prospective imports,” he said.
Rahul Anand briefed on the current economic situation of Bangladesh in support of his stand during a virtual conference on Tuesday (16 August).
He said, the widening current account deficit has put pressure on the currency and the Taka has depreciated.
“However, the external debt is relatively low and mostly concessional in nature,” added the IMF official.
Mentioning Bangladesh's loan appeal to the world money lender, Rahul Anand said the request is "pre-emptive."
He also said Bangladesh did well to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic. The recovery was robust and was faster than in many other countries.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
