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This marks a 21.2% increase from the $3.372 billion repaid in the previous fiscal year (2023-24). An analysis of ERD data reveals that the principal repayment in 2024-25 rose to $2.595 billion, a 28.8% increase from $2.02 billion in the previous year. Interest payments also grew by 10.5%, reaching $1.491 billion compared to $1.349 billion in 2023-24.
ERD officials noted that the repayment amount has increased due to the expiration of grace periods for foreign loans taken over the past decade for large-scale projects and budget support.
Despite the rise in repayments, new foreign loan agreements and disbursements decreased in 2024-25. According to ERD, Bangladesh signed loan agreements worth $8.323 billion with development partners, down from $10.739 billion in the previous fiscal year. Similarly, loan disbursements dropped to $8.568 billion from $10.283 billion in 2023-24.
In terms of loan commitments, the World Bank led with $2.84 billion, including $1 billion for budget support. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) followed with $2 billion, of which $1.5 billion was for budget support. Japan committed $1.89 billion, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) pledged $561 million.
For loan disbursements, ADB topped the list with $2.52 billion in 2024-25, followed by the World Bank with $2.012 billion, Japan with $1.58 billion, Russia with $675 million, AIIB with $527 million, China with $415 million, and India with $185 million.
