Dhaka:Foreign loan disbursement to Bangladesh decreased by nearly 48% year-on-year in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, as indicated by provisional official data.
According to United News of Bangladesh, development partners disbursed $541.74 million in loans during July-September of FY2026-27, a decline from $1,038.12 million in the same period of FY2025-26, as reported in the Foreign Assistance Monthly Report of the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
Total foreign assistance disbursement, which includes grants, also fell to $662.31 million from $1,148.59 million in the corresponding period a year earlier. This decrease occurred even though foreign assistance commitments increased to $1.27 billion in the first quarter of FY27 from $910.67 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Loan commitments rose to $1.15 billion from $821.70 million, while grant commitments increased to $125.45 million from $88.97 million. During this period, project assistance accounted for the entire amount of foreign aid commitments, with no food assistance committed in either of the two comparable quarters.
On the disbursement side, project assistance totaled $652.31 million in July-September of FY27, down from $1.14 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. This included $541.74 million in loans and $110.57 million in grants. Food assistance disbursement remained unchanged at $10 million, entirely in grants, during the two periods.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's debt-servicing burden increased in the first quarter of FY27. The country paid $1.35 billion in principal and interest on foreign loans during July-September, compared with $1.28 billion in the same period of FY26. Principal repayments rose to $858.92 million from $816.99 million, while interest payments increased to $492.31 million from $462.96 million.
In local currency terms, total debt servicing reached Tk16,646.46 crore in the first quarter of FY27, up from Tk15,591.69 crore a year earlier. The principal repayment amounted to Tk10,584.62 crore, while interest payments stood at Tk6,061.84 crore. The figures are provisional and were published in the ERD's Foreign Assistance Monthly Report for July-September 2026.