IMF lowers Bangladesh's growth forecast to 5.4% for FY26
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its economic growth forecast for Bangladesh for the 2025–26 fiscal year, citing ongoing political uncertainty, tighter monetary and fiscal policies, rising global trade restrictions, and growing challenges within the country’s banking sector.
According to the IMF’s latest assessment, Bangladesh’s economy is now projected to expand by 5.4 percent in FY26, down from its earlier estimate of 6.5 percent. The revised projection was released alongside the IMF Executive Board’s approval of the fourth and fifth tranches of Bangladesh’s $4.7 billion loan package, amounting to $1.3 billion. An additional $800 million in funding was also approved for the country.
This updated forecast aligns closely with the Bangladeshi government's own projection of 5.5 percent growth for the same period.
For the current fiscal year, the IMF expects Bangladesh’s GDP growth to reach 3.8 percent, slightly below the provisional estimate of 3.97 percent provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
In its World Economic Outlook published in April, the IMF had previously projected that inflation in Bangladesh would hover around 5.18 percent in FY26.
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