Quoting the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) spokesperson Mezbaul Haque said the IMF has praised Bangladesh's proactive economic management amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A four-member IMF delegation, including its DMD Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, had a meeting with a few members of the Bangladesh Bank on Sunday. The team arrived in Dhaka on Saturday (14 January) on a five-day visit.

The topics of discussion at Sunday's meeting included challenges to be faced in the upcoming monetary policy, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Mezbaul Haque told reporters following the meeting.

There were also talks about climate financing from the IMF, he said while adding that issues of capacity building faced by the government and the Bangladesh Bank were also discussed.

According to finance ministry sources, Sayeh came to Dhaka from Delhi after completing her current Indian visit.

Sayeh will report to the IMF headquarters regarding the $4.5 billion loan for Bangladesh to combat the global recession.

The report will be presented at the IMF board meeting. Based on this, the process of providing the loan will be finalised.

The government has reached an in-principle agreement on the loan with the IMF. Now, only the formalities remain.

Some conditions have already been implemented. Electricity prices were hiked by an average of 5% on Thursday to implement another IMF condition.

The government will seek some time to implement some other IMF conditions.