Salehuddin expects $3.6 billion in budget support from dev partners by June
He says the current account balance has improved as exports continue to grow more than imports
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed today (2 June) expected that Bangladesh will receive additional budget support of about $3.6 billion from various development partners by June (FY 2024-25).
"It may be noted here that we expect to receive additional budget support of about $3.6 billion from various development partners by June of the current fiscal year," he said while presenting the proposed national budget for FY26.
Salehuddin said the current account balance has improved as exports continue to grow more than imports.
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"In the July-March period of the current fiscal year, export earnings increased by 9.45% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. On the other hand, imports increased by 5.57%," he added.
As a result, the current account deficit narrowed to $0.66 billion at the end of March 2025 from $4.4 billion at the end of the same period in 2024, he continued.
The adviser, however, said due to the continuation of the government's austerity policy, the pace of development projects has slowed down somewhat and as a result, the promised foreign loan disbursement for the projects is slow.
In the July-March period of the current fiscal year, he said the amount of medium and long-term loan disbursement from foreign sources decreased by 19% to $4.48 billion compared to the same period of the previous year.
If we can bring down inflation to the desired level, the pace of development projects will increase again, he added.
