IMF, debt and dollars: The economic backdrop to the Bangladesh election

Bangladesh heads to the polls on February 12 in the first general election since the 2024 uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina. Amid rising inflation, thin foreign exchange reserves, fiscal deficits, and a fragile banking sector, voters face an economy tethered to the IMF’s stabilisation programme. With garments under threat, subsidies under review, and tax reforms looming, the next government inherits not just political power but the challenge of painful economic reforms