Prime minister Sheikh Hasina meets with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva while the later ked a delegation during a courtesy call on the Bangladesh PM at the meeting room of The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, on Saturday afternoon (US local timg). – BSS photo.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said that Bangladesh had taken a loan from the International Monetary Fund as a ‘breathing space’ while the global lender assured of continuing to provide such support in future.
‘We have taken the loan from the IMF as breathing space,’ quoting the prime minister as saying foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told a news briefing.
The prime minister made the remarks when an IMF delegation led by its managing director Kristalina Georgieva paid a courtesy call on her at the meeting room of The Ritz-Carlton hotel in the afternoon.
The IMF had recently approved a loan of 4.7 billion US dollar for Bangladesh.
The foreign minister said that the IMF MD highly praised the unprecedented advancement of Bangladesh in various sectors under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina which made Bangladesh economy stable after the Covid pandemic.
‘Bangladesh is a role model in the world (in terms of its overall development) which makes its economy stable even after the coronavirus pandemic,’ Momen said quoting the IMF managing director.
The IMF chief said that leadership like Bangladesh prime minister was necessary to go ahead towards prosperity confronting all the hurdles.
She said that Bangladesh achieved remarkable progress due to establishing massive infrastructure development, well connectivity and maintaining the law and order.
Kristalina also hailed the maintaining stability in the macro economy even in the Covid pandemic.
Bangladesh’s prime minister apprised the IMF chief of her government initiatives to make sure the overall development of her country.
‘The development of the country has not made in a day rather it’s a result of longtime planning,’ she said.
Sheikh Hasina said that she prepared the plan on how she wanted to develop Bangladesh while she was in jail after the changeover and started working with the plan after assuming power for the second time in 2009.
She apprised the IMF boss of Bangladesh’s measures to fight the adverse impact of the climate change and women empowerment.
The prime minister hailed the role of IMF in the journey of Bangladesh’s development and wish continuation of the support in future.
During the briefing, Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rouf Talukder said that the IMF always stood by Bangladesh in the last 14 years to maintain stability in the macro economy and also gave required advices as the country never derailed from it.
Bangladesh is currently engaged with a programme of 4.7 billion US dollar with IMF which Bangladesh has got only two weeks negotiation despite the fact many countries cannot avail the loan after negotiation of years, he said.
‘IMF will continue such kind of cooperation in future,’ Rouf said quoting the IMF chief.
Finance Division senior secretary Fatima Yasmin and Economic Relations Division secretary Sharifa Khan were present during the briefing.
