Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday trashed the claims of international media that says Bangladesh is seeking bailout from international lenders like International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"There are many for uttering such kind of words, it's false and not correct . . . they (international lending agencies) are behind us for extending loans. Bangladesh is a good market place for overseas banks and financial institutions. The loan repayment method of Bangladesh is very good and very easy," he said.
The Finance Minister was responding to a volley of questions from reporters virtually after chairing the 22nd meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) in this year held on Wednesday.
He said no such concrete proposal was sent to the IMF or received from them on loan support adding, "If we take loans, then we'll have to bargain so that we don't fall into any problem. We'll first see what are the conditions? If we can get loans at less interest rate, in that case we can consider."
During the recent visit of the IMF mission in Bangladesh, the government wanted to give the IMF the required space for evaluating the capacity of Bangladesh's economy, said Kamal.
When his attention was sought over the uptrend of exchange rate of US dollar against Taka, he said the government does not print dollars rather it has to acquire it (dollars) through inward remittance and export receipts.
Alleging that a quarter is trying to become benefitted through imports with a motive, the Finance Minister said the concerned government machinery has been asked to properly monitor the exchange rate market.
He said that the exchange rate market should be operated on demand and supply basis adding that the dollar price would eventually come down with the effectiveness of different machineries of the government.
Kamal said the government needs a huge amount of foreign exchange to procure necessary machines and raw materials to keep the economy growing.
He noted that the export earnings sector is doing fine while the inward remittance flow is also expected to fare better at the end of this year as a good number of Bangladeshi workers went abroad during the post COVID-19 situation.
When asked about the suggestions of the IMF for availing loans, the Finance Minister said due to the effectiveness of the 6 percent deposit rate and 9 percent lending rate, the economy of Bangladesh is still in a good position despite the adversities of the pandemic.
He said had such deposit and lending rate could not be effective, then the lending rate could have shot up to 20 or 22 percent while it also would have been hard to find out the existence of any small, micro and cottage industry in the country during the pandemic resulting in high unemployment rate.
"I think making effective the 6% deposit rate and 9% lending rate was the best decision although lenders like World Bank and IMF had their opinions. Bangladesh is moving ahead and the country's banking sector is in a stable position due to the imposition of single digit deposit and lending rate," he added.
The Finance Minister said the government always tries to avail loans from lenders like World Bank, IMF and JICA in soft conditions.
"As a buyer (loan recipient), we try to take our decisions judiciously for the sake of the country's interest and there is nothing to be worried about," he added.
He also told another questioner that no specific amount of loan was sought from the IMF mission during their visit to Bangladesh. "If we take loans, then you will have the right to know and I am always ready to give explanation."
Kamal also expressed his resolve that Bangladesh would be able to extend loans again with the improvement of the global situation.
