Bangladesh sees 63% more foreign loan released in first two months of FY 2026

Debt repayments in the first two months of the current fiscal year amounts to about $667.1 million

Foreign loan disbursements to Bangladesh have increased in July and August of the 2025-26 fiscal year compared with the same period last year.

According to data released by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) on its website on Sunday, foreign loan disbursement reached $750 million during the period.

The disbursement was $458.2 million during the same period last fiscal year.

In July of the 2024–25 fiscal year, disbursement fell 38 percent year-on-year.

Generally, repayment amounts remain lower than disbursement. That trend was observed in fiscal years 2023–24 and earlier.

The reverse trend, however, appeared from the first month of the previous financial year.

This year, the earlier pattern has returned, with repayment slightly lower than inflows.

ERD figures show that in the first two months of fiscal year 2025–26, loan repayments amounted to about $667.1 million. Of this, $487.7 million was principal and around $178.3 million was interest.

In the same period last fiscal year, the government had to repay $589.2 million in principal and interest. This marks an increase in cost of about 13 percent.

In July, loan and grant commitments totalled $243.8 million, compared with just $20.1 million last year.

Foreign loan disbursement in the last fiscal year was $8.57 billion, down from $10.28 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Despite lower disbursement, repayments in 2024–25 rose to $4.09 billion, including $2.6 billion in principal and $1.49 billion in interest.