DHAKA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government expects to enter into a new financial arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by February next year, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said on Sunday.
The minister told journalists on the sidelines of a two-day international debt conference jointly organized by Bangladesh's Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank that steps are underway to resolve differences between the government's economic priorities and the conditions of the IMF program.
According to the minister, the previous program had been negotiated during the tenure of the former caretaker government, and some of its conditions were difficult for an elected administration to implement.
Currently, he said, development partners had aligned their support with the newly elected government's development priorities.
"The IMF is also aligning with our program. We're working with the IMF on some areas where there are differences," he said, expressing hope that the discussions would be concluded by January. ■
