Bangladesh Bank said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the policy interest rate would be reduced if inflation was down to 5 percent.
The matter was discussed at a meeting of the IMF delegation with the governors and deputy governors of Bangladesh Bank on Sunday (April 7th). Asked about the time to reduce policy interest rates at the meeting, Governor Ahsan H Mansur said that the opportunity to reduce the policy rate would be created only if inflation was below 5 percent.
After the meeting, Bangladesh Bank spokesman Arif Hossain Khan told reporters, “In view of the governor's statement, the IMF representatives said that according to their calculations, the inflation of the country will fall to 5.2 percent by June this year.”
He also said that the delegation expressed concern over the situation in the country's revenue collection, but Bangladesh Bank expressed satisfaction with various reforms.
At a meeting organized on multiple issues, the IMF representatives also discussed the liquidity situation in the country's banking sector. The delegation said they were concerned about the liquidity crisis of 12 banks.
In this regard, the governor said, “With the help of the central bank, only five banks are in liquidity crisis. Other banks have returned to a very stable position. '
Representatives want to know which process is provided to the banks. In response, the governor said the assistance was provided through 'Demand Promise Note' (Promise Pet). However, the IMF was not satisfied with this method, Bangladesh Bank said.
In addition, the IMF delegation wants to know if the loan activities of the banks are closed. In reply, the governor said that even though large loans were stopped in these banks, small -scale loan activities in SMEs and agricultural sectors are underway under various refinance schemes of the central bank.
However, in today's discussion, the IMF delegation did not discuss the defaulted loans, foreign exchange reserves and exchange rates of the banks, Bangladesh Bank spokesman said.
