B Mirror Desk : Repayment of foreign debt has grown in size. Interest and principal payments on foreign debt were $3.21 billion in the nine months of the current fiscal year (July through March), which was the same amount as the entire payment of $3.37 billion in the previous fiscal year. That is, the equivalent of the previous fiscal year’s sum was due with three months remaining.

The amount of foreign debt committed and disbursed has declined. This information has been emphasized in the Economic Relations Department’s (ERD) most recent report on the foreign debt situation. On Wednesday, the organization made it public.

The country received around $4.81 billion in foreign debt in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, 2024–2025, according to the report. Approximately two-thirds of the disbursement had to be paid in interest on the debt during this time. In the meantime, $2.01 billion was really repaid for the foreign loan over those nine months, and $1.20 billion was paid in interest. $2.57 billion was due for the same time period of the previous fiscal year, 2023–2024. In just one year, Bangladesh has been forced to pay an additional $640 million.

In the past nine months, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has made the largest payout, totaling $1.22 billion. Furthermore, Japan has contributed $890 million and the World Bank has contributed $1.07 billion.

In the meantime, $3 billion in foreign aid commitments were made to Bangladesh between July and March. During the same time frame of the previous fiscal year, $7.24 billion in pledges were received. Consequently, less than half of the promises received were made during this fiscal year.