Dhaka, Oct. 29 -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says its support programme for Bangladesh will help the country replenish its foreign-currency reserves and enhance the capacity to deal with economic downturn feared ahead.

While launching its 'Regional Economic Outlook Report for Asia and the Pacific' in Singapore Friday, the IMF officials said the war in Ukraine and high commodity prices dampened Bangladesh's robust recovery from the pandemic.

The Bangladesh government has "pre-emptively requested an IMF-supported program that will bolster the external position, and access to the IMF's new Resilience and Sustainability Trust to meet their large climate-financing need, both of which will strengthen their ability to deal with futu...