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Bangladesh seeks $2 billion from World Bank, ADB: Report

The government wrote letters to the two lenders, according to media sources

Published: Wed 3 Aug 2022, 10:45 AM

  • By
  • Reuters

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Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

Bangladesh is seeking $2 billion from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) amidst efforts to bolster its foreign exchange reserves, according to a Bloomberg News report on Wednesday.

Bangladesh's $416 billion economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world for years, but rising energy and food prices owing to the Russia-Ukraine war have inflated its import bill and the current account deficit.

The government wrote letters to the two lenders, seeking $1 billion each, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes days after Bangladesh's Daily Star newspaper reported that the country wanted $4.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for various reasons, including budgetary and balance-of-payment support.

Last week, the IMF said it would discuss loan requests with Bangladesh.

The country's finance ministry, World Bank and ADB, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

According to central bank data, Bangladesh's July-May current account deficit was $17.2 billion, compared with a deficit of $2.78 billion in the year-earlier period, as its trade deficit widened and remittances fell.

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