Bangladesh’s Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury stated that there is no scope to say yes or no regarding the next tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. He made the remarks on Friday, April 17, after meetings with two IMF teams at the organization’s headquarters in the United States. The minister said discussions are ongoing and will continue for about two weeks, emphasizing that the matter will be resolved through dialogue rather than immediate decisions.

According to the report, the IMF has withheld the next loan disbursement due to slow progress in banking sector reforms, delays in the new bank resolution law, and weak revenue collection. The minister rejected some media reports suggesting that the IMF had suspended the tranche, clarifying that no final decision has been made yet. Bangladesh still has 1.86 billion dollars remaining under the 5.5 billion dollar IMF loan program, with expectations to receive 1.3 billion dollars by June of the current fiscal year.

Sector insiders believe that delays in implementing IMF conditions could hinder the release of the next tranche, though the government expects a resolution soon.