Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Bangladesh will face increased spending on fuel imports due to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. He made the statement on Tuesday, March 24, after a meeting with an IMF delegation at the Secretariat. The delegation, led by Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, also met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman earlier in the day.

The minister said discussions with the IMF included whether the government would bear the additional fuel costs, adding that further talks would take place during the upcoming Spring Meetings in Washington. He noted that the IMF had raised issues related to the war context, challenges in the banking and stock market sectors, and tax-to-GDP matters. Chowdhury emphasized that despite the war and fuel crisis, transportation and commodity prices remained stable during Ramadan and Eid due to timely government decisions.

He added that the IMF loan review is scheduled for July, with preliminary discussions to be held in April in Washington. The minister said Bangladesh is negotiating IMF conditions gradually, aligning them with the country’s current economic realities.