Now it’s Bangladesh’s turn to ask the IMF for a loan

Rising energy and food prices because of the Russia-Ukraine war has inflated Bangladesh's import bill, hurting its finances [File: Al Drago/Bloomberg]

Bangladesh has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to start negotiations for a loan, becoming the latest South Asian nation to knock on the doors of the international agency, Reuters has reported, citing a local newspaper.

Finance minister A H M Mustafa Kamal told the Prothom Alo newspaper that while Bangladesh had started negotiations, the economy was “in no way in trouble”.