Bangladesh Bank has held a meeting with US -based credit rating company Fitch Ratings. The meeting requested to reconsider the debt by portraying the country's recent financial progress.
Senior officials including Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Executive Director and Spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan were present at the meeting on Monday (April 23).
After the meeting, Bangladesh Bank spokesman Arif Hossain Khan said, “We have presented the real situation of the country in front of the rating agencies.” Foreign reserve situation and dollar exchange rates have been positively developed. The rating agencies have expressed satisfaction with these index. Their rating has been requested to reconsider.
He said that in November 2021, Bangladesh will pass the UN Democratic Country (LDC) list. In that context, appropriate loan is required to fully exploit the current loan assistance. This is why the rating companies have sought proper evaluation.
Earlier last week, Bangladesh Bank also held similar meetings with representatives of S&P Global.
It is to be noted that in July 2021, S&P reduced the 'BB Minus' from Bangladesh to 'B Plus'. The Fitch Rettings also degraded the same in May 2021, though the country's economy was forecast stable.
On that day, Arif Hossain Khan commented on new notes, weak banks and inflation. He said no new coins were printed during the current interim government. It takes at least 6 months to print a new design note. Bangladesh Bank has taken initiatives to print those types simultaneously, resulting in the new note in May.
He also said that the liquidity crisis was caused by the irregularities of the weak banks, which caused the Bangladesh Bank to have been forced to provide money. The task force has already been set up to verify the actual condition of the weak bank. Necessary action will be taken based on that report. In addition, the inflation rate has dropped slightly and the dollar exchange rate is also decreasing due to export and remittance growth.
