Bangladesh seeks help to recover laundered money and reform

Bangladesh has sought help to recover laundered money and reform efforts by participating in multiple meetings on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings held in Washington. At the same time, the Bangladesh delegation has proposed to increase the allocation of funds to combat the negative effects of climate change.

Bangladesh has clearly stated that it will not accept foreign loans under any conditions that are against the country's interests. This is because it has been possible to restore the stability of the reserves by successfully dealing with the foreign exchange crisis left by the previous government and the supply of dollars in the market has also increased.

The meeting, which began last Monday, will end on Saturday. The Bangladesh delegation included Financial Advisor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, who led the entire meeting. Other members of the team included the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the Finance Secretary and senior government officials.

Sources said that the progress of the ongoing loan program and future cooperation were discussed in the meeting with the IMF on Tuesday (US time) afternoon. The Bangladesh delegation requested additional funding for climate change mitigation, but called for easing the conditions.

The IMF has suggested increasing revenue collection, aligning interest rates on government borrowing with the market, and bringing fuel prices in line with international markets. An IMF mission will arrive in Dhaka on October 29 to discuss the implementation of the sixth tranche of the loan in detail.

On the same day, in a meeting with the World Bank, Bangladesh requested technical assistance to repatriate money laundered abroad. Several international organizations under the supervision of the World Bank provide such assistance. With the help of these organizations, a portion of the laundered money has already been identified, which now requires additional assistance to repatriate.

Since last July, the World Bank has launched a new loan program with soft terms, the interest rate of which is lower than that of conventional loans. Bangladesh has sought additional loan assistance under this program.

In a meeting with representatives of the OPEC Fund, Bangladesh requested an extension of the credit line for energy imports. As the demand for fuel oil in the country has increased, import costs have also increased, resulting in increased demand for loans in this sector.

In addition, the Bangladesh delegation has also held several meetings with ADB, AIIB and JICA, where they sought increased cooperation in development projects and support for the ongoing economic reform program.