Bangladesh sees 35% more foreign loan released in first quarter of FY2026

Expenditure has risen by about 13.5 percent year-on-year

The government has said the disbursement of foreign loans in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year 2025-26 increased by 35 percent compared with the same period last year.

According to data released by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on its website on Saturday, foreign loan disbursement during the July-September period reached $1.15 billion.

In the same period of the last fiscal year, $846.1 million was disbursed.

The country's economy underwent stagnation during the turbulent time of the quota reform movement.

ERD figures show, in the first three months of fiscal year 2025–26, loan repayments amounted to about $1.28 billion. Of this, $816.8 million was principal and around $462.9 million was interest.

In the same period last year, the government had to repay $1.13 billion for foreign loan principal and interest. Accordingly, the expenditure increased by about 13.5 percent.

During the July-September period, the commitment for foreign loans and grants totaled $910.6 million, which was $27.4 million in the same period last year.

In the last fiscal year, foreign loan disbursement was $8.57 billion, which was $10.28 billion in the preceding fiscal year.

Despite the reduction in disbursement, loan repayment in the 2024-25 fiscal year increased to $4.08 billion. The repaid amount included $2.59 billion in principal and $1.49 billion in interest.