Bangladesh’s foreign debt has nearly tripled over the past 10 years. The country’s total external debt stock stood at $38.77 billion in 2015. By the end of 2025 it had risen to $113.43 billion. At Tk 125 to the dollar, that is about Tk 14.18 lakh crore.
The figures come from the World Bank’s International Debt Report 2026.
According to the report, Bangladesh’s total external debt stock grew by 8.6 percent in 2025 compared with 2024. The debt keeps rising even after new borrowing, repayment of old loans and other adjustments are taken into account.
Who Bangladesh owes
The World Bank report says most of Bangladesh’s foreign debt comes from multilateral development partners.
Bangladesh owes these institutions, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a total of $51.14 billion. Of that, $22.63 billion is owed to the World Bank and $17.51 billion to the ADB.
Bangladesh owes bilateral lenders such as Japan, China, India and Russia a total of $32.64 billion. Of that, $12.72 billion is owed to Japan and $9.02 billion to Russia.
Besides government borrowing, the private sector holds about $10 billion in foreign debt. Short-term foreign debt amounts to about $15 billion.
Ability to repay
Although the debt has grown, the World Bank says Bangladesh’s position is relatively manageable on several measures of its ability to repay.
According to the report, external debt stands at 24 percent of gross national income (GNI), up by about 6 percent in a year.
However, principal and interest payments on foreign debt fell to 16 percent of export earnings, 3.8 percent lower than the year before. In other words, $16 of every $100 earned from exports goes to debt instalments and interest. The fall in this ratio is seen as a positive sign for the country’s ability to repay.
Repayments up more than fourfold in 14 years
Repayments have risen sharply along with the debt stock. According to the Economic Relations Division (ERD), Bangladesh repaid $1.10 billion on foreign loans in fiscal 2012-13. That rose to $2.01 billion in fiscal 2021-22, and reached nearly $3 billion the following year, 2022-23.
In fiscal 2025-26, about $4.5 billion was spent on principal and interest on foreign loans. Repayments have therefore more than quadrupled in 14 years.
The pressure of repayment may grow further in the coming years, because principal and interest on loans for several large infrastructure and development projects are falling due.
Instalments on loans for the Rooppur nuclear power plant and for the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport must be paid soon, a large share of them to Japan. Repayment has already begun on the loans for the tunnel under the Karnaphuli river and the metro rail project.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report