Bangladesh to get $4.7bn IMF package

The IMF funding includes goals for reforms focused on creating fiscal space to enable greater social and developmental spending [File: Johannes P. Christo/Reuters]

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board has approved a support programme for Bangladesh worth $4.7bn at current exchange rates, making the South Asian country the first to access its new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

The funding announced on Monday includes $3.3bn under the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility programmes and $1.4bn under the new RSF, which aims to help vulnerable middle-income countries and island states.