Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury told parliament today that Bangladesh’s total external debt stood at US$ 78.22 billion as of March, 2026.

Of this, 61.97 percent was concessional, he said while responding to a question from MP Mustafizur Rahman Babul during the question-answer session chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.

The finance minister, in his scripted answer, acknowledged “several challenges in external debt management.”

According to the World Bank’s 2015 assessment, Bangladesh’s transition from a low-income to a lower-middle-income country has gradually reduced access to concessional external financing. At the same time, the government’s external borrowing has increased significantly, he said.

As a result, the government’s principal and interest repayment obligations will increase in the coming years. Keeping these issues in mind, the BNP government has taken several precautionary steps, the minister said.

In the case of taking new external loans, loan proposals and related project proposals are being closely scrutinised so that no unnecessary or insignificant projects are implemented through high-interest foreign loans, he said.

“Foreign loans are being considered only for projects with high economic returns. We are also closely monitoring externally financed projects to curb the practice of extending implementation timelines and escalating costs,” he added.

The government is updating its Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy and conducting a debt sustainability analysis to make debt management more sustainable and resilient, he said. It has also begun preparing institutional and legal reforms aimed at strengthening the overall governance and public credibility of government debt management.