Photo: Collected
Bangladesh had to repay about $1,351.2 million in principal and interest on foreign loans in the first three months of the current 2026-27 fiscal year, according to the latest quarterly report of the Economic Relations Division (ERD). The outlay has increased compared with before.
According to official figures, total repayment in this year’s July-September period rose by about 5.6 per cent from the same period of the last fiscal year. Rising loan instalments and the complex state of the global economy have been cited as the main reasons.
According to ERD data, Bangladesh repaid about $858.9 million in principal alone during these three months, compared with about $817 million in the same period of the last fiscal year. Interest costs also rose noticeably. This time about $492.3 million had to be paid in interest; in the first three months of the previous fiscal year the figure was $465 million.
Even as the pressure of debt repayment grows, funds coming from development partners have fallen considerably. In the July-September quarter, various donor agencies and countries together disbursed only $662.3 million, whereas more than $1,148 million was disbursed in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Of this year’s disbursement, loans account for about $541.7 million and grants for a little over $120.5 million.
However, new loan commitments have increased, offering some relief in the foreign aid picture. According to the ERD report, development partners including the World Bank and ADB pledged a total of $1,273 million in loans and grants to Bangladesh in the first three months. Commitments in the first quarter of the last fiscal year were only $910.6 million; on that basis they rose by about 40 per cent in a year. Of the pledged amount, loans account for $1,148 million and grants for $125.4 million.
By the numbers
According to the ERD, repayment of principal and interest on foreign loans stood at $4.49 billion in the full 2025-26 fiscal year, about 10 per cent more than $4.09 billion in the previous fiscal year, BSS reported on 8 September.
By the same count, repayment was $2.67 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year and $3.37 billion in 2023-24, BSS reported on 8 September.
According to a 6 August report by The Daily Observer, repayment in the 2025-26 fiscal year was the highest in the country’s history, with principal at $2.95 billion and interest at $1.54 billion.
Sources
Original report: Bangladesh Pratidin
Background sources: BSS, 8 September 2026; The Daily Observer, 6 August 2026
