Bangladesh has sought assistance from the IMF to reform the financial sector
September 24, 20242 Mins Read

Jumbangla Desk: Bangladesh has sought assistance from the IMF in reforming the economic sector, including the banking sector, revenue structure, VAT and money laundering.

This information was given by Finance Adviser Dr. Saleh Uddin Ahmed.

He said that how and in which process they will help Bangladesh will be decided in the meeting with the World Bank in Washington next October.

"We need resources to take various reforms and steps in the economic field. As much as we can, we will extract domestic resources. There are some things in between that will require foreign aid… the IMF usually provides the balance of support. "IMF is very important for banking and various sectors in all countries of the world," said the finance adviser.

Mentioning the discussion with the IMF delegation about what Bangladesh might need, he further said, 'We have said that we have taken some steps regarding reforms, we have taken steps in other sectors including the banking sector. It will take some time. And we have a resource gap, there's going to be some help; It has been discussed.'

The IMF will also sit down with Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

"Resources, technical assistance which is for banking sector reform, for money laundering, then for tax reform, income tax, VAT reform," he said, adding that some help has been sought not only from the IMF, but also from others.

"By coordinating who will give what help, we will tell the IMF specifically what kind of help we need from them." Everyone can work together without duplication i.e. two or three organizations will do the same work. But more resources will be needed. That has been discussed,' added the finance advisor.