Md Tarek Hossain : Foreign loan disbursements have surpassed $4 billion. In the first eight months of the 2024-25 fiscal year (July-February), Bangladesh received a total of $4.13 billion in foreign loans. During the same period, the country had to repay approximately $2.64 billion in principal and interest.
This update comes from the latest report published Monday by the Economic Relations Division (ERD), which tracks the country's foreign loan situation. Notably, in the initial months of the fiscal year, repayments outpaced fresh disbursements.
Among international lenders, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided the highest amount, disbursing nearly $1.13 billion. The World Bank followed with $960 million, while Japan contributed $730 million. The ERD report highlights that foreign loan inflows improved significantly in December, January, and February.
Meanwhile, during the same eight-month period, the government repaid $2.64 billion in foreign loans, of which $1.69 billion was principal and $950 million was interest. This marks a sharp increase from the previous fiscal year, when repayments over the same period amounted to $2.03 billion-meaning Bangladesh has had to pay an additional $610 million this year.
Despite the rise in loan disbursements, commitments for project assistance under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) have seen a dramatic drop. Development partners pledged only $2.35 billion between July and February, compared to $7.2 billion in commitments during the same period last year-a fall to just one-third of the previous figure.
Notably, countries such as China, India, and Russia have not made any fresh loan commitments this fiscal year.
The burden of foreign loan repayments has grown significantly in recent years. According to ERD data, Bangladesh spent $3.36 billion on foreign loan repayments in the last fiscal year alone. Over the past decade, the country's foreign loan repayment obligations have tripled.