In the first five months (July-November) of the current 2025-26 fiscal year, Bangladesh did not receive any new loan commitments from friendly big countries like India, China, Russia and Japan.
At the same time, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) also did not promise any new loans. However, these countries and organizations have waived off previous loans.
This information has emerged in the updated report on the foreign debt situation for the period July-November published by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on Monday.
According to ERD data, in the first five months of the current fiscal year, donor agencies and countries have waived off $1.95 billion in loans to Bangladesh. On the other hand, the government spent $1.89 billion on repaying the principal and interest on the previous loans. In other words, it had to repay almost the same amount of money that came from foreign loans during this period.
The report says that Bangladesh has received a total of $1.22 billion in loan commitments in these five months. However, no new commitments were made in November. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced the largest commitment—$580 million—of the total commitments. The World Bank has received commitments of about $20 million. Other donor agencies and countries have announced commitments of $625 million in the previous four months.
In comparison, Bangladesh received $520 million in loan commitments in the first four months of the last fiscal year.
In the first five months of the current fiscal year, Russia has written off the most debt. The country has given Bangladesh $550 million during this period. Next is the World Bank, which has written off $430 million. ADB has given $335 million.
In addition, China and India have written off $195 million and $90 million in loans, respectively. Japan has received $85 million.
According to economists, there is a need to increase caution in external debt management, given the slow pace of new loan commitments and the pressure to repay.
