In the first 9 months of the current fiscal year, foreign debt interest has cost 105 million dollars. That is more than double compared to the same period of the previous year. Bangladesh paid $480 million in interest during the same period last fiscal year.
This picture emerged in the latest report prepared by the government’s Economic Relations Department (ERD) on the updated situation of the country’s foreign debt, published on Sunday (April 21).
According to ERD sources, in the first 9 months of the current financial year, the cost of interest payments on foreign loans has increased by about 89 million dollars compared to the same period of the previous year. A total of over $257 million in interest and principal payments have been made in the last 9 months. Last year at the same time it was 1.73 billion dollars.
Analysts believe that in this time of dollar-crisis, additional pressure is being created on the reserves and the budget due to the extra money spent to pay the foreign debt.
Sector insiders say debt repayment pressure is increasing due to short-term loans from China and Russia. Already the loan repayment of Rooppur nuclear power plant construction project has started. The loan repayment installments of the Metrorail project have also started. Apart from this, the loan repayment of the Karnaphuli tunnel project will also start soon. The pressure will increase when the debt repayment of another mega project starts in the next two-three years.
On the other hand, loan concessions have not increased much compared to earlier. According to ERD sources, a total of $5.63 billion was received during July-March. In the same period of the last financial year, its amount was 536 million dollars.
Financial Index/AHR
