India

Bangladesh will not face a situation like Sri Lanka, PM Hasina says

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks during a plenary session at the start of the Paris Peace Forum, in Paris, France, November 11, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

NEW DELHI, Sept 5 – Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her country will not face a situation like the economic crisis in Sri Lanka although her government has sought loans from global agencies amid a fall in its reserves and surging import costs. read more

In an interview with Reuters partner ANI, aired ahead of her visit to India on Monday, Hasina said that Bangladesh’s economy remained strong despite the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Bangladesh’s $416 billion economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world for years but dwindling foreign exchange reserves due to inflated import bills have prompted the government to seek loans from global agencies, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). read more

“Bangladesh has always timely (in paying) our debt; our debt rate is very low in the context of Sri Lanka,” Hasina said. “Some people have raised this issue that Bangladesh will be Sri Lanka, but I can ensure that that will not happen.”

Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF on Thursday for a loan of about $2.9 billion, after the country plunged into a crisis due to economic mismanagement and the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out its key tourism industry.

During her four-day visit to India, Hasina will meet her Indian counterpart and other leaders.

Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS

SEP 5, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-will-not-face-situation-like-sri-lanka-pm-hasina-says-2022-09-05/

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