Bangladesh experienced a major rise in net foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first quarter (January–March) of 2025, according to the latest data from Bangladesh Bank.
The total FDI reached $865 million, which is a 114% increase compared to $403 million in the same period of 2024. It also marked a 76% rise from the $490 million recorded in the October–December quarter of 2024.
Intra-Company Loans and Equity Boost Investment
The large increase in FDI was mainly due to a sharp rise in intra-company loans and strong equity investments.
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Intra-company loans rose to $629 million, almost 2.5 times higher than the $254 million borrowed by foreign companies in early 2024.
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Equity investment more than doubled to $304 million, up from $188 million in the same period last year.
These figures show that many international companies are choosing to invest directly and also rely on loans from their parent companies to expand or run their operations in Bangladesh.
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Reinvested Earnings Drop
While fresh investments rose, reinvested earnings — profits that companies keep and reinvest locally — actually fell.
In the first quarter of 2025, reinvested earnings dropped to $194.71 million, compared to $257.26 million in early 2024.
According to officials from the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), some foreign companies may be sending their profits back to their home countries to meet financial needs or invest elsewhere.
Outflows Also Increased
Even though FDI inflows increased, the total outflows — money going out of the country — also rose.
In the first quarter of 2025, outflows reached $711 million, up from $651 million during the same period last year.
This means that although new investments came in, some of the gains were balanced by higher repatriation of funds by foreign firms.
BIDA Chairman Shares FDI Figures on Facebook
On July 11, BIDA Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury shared a post on Facebook, saying that total FDI inflows in the first quarter reached Tk 10,500 crore, which is more than double the amount from the same time in 2024.
However, he also added that BIDA’s role in these recent investments was minimal, as most of the decisions were made earlier.
He praised the faster approval processes by BIDA and Bangladesh Bank (BB) for helping maintain the positive momentum.
Government Forms Committee for FDI Incentives
In May 2025, the government set up a five-member high-level committee to look into ways to attract more FDI by offering practical incentives.
This committee is being led by Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed and has been asked to submit its recommendations within a month.
Their goal is to find competitive and useful incentive packages to keep encouraging foreign companies to invest in Bangladesh.
Source: TDS
