Bangladesh, June 25 -- Bangladesh is facing growing challenges in managing its external debt as access to highly concessional foreign loans declines and repayment obligations continue to rise. Against this backdrop, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has revealed that the country's total external debt stood at $78.22 billion as of March this year, warning that debt servicing pressures are set to increase further in the coming years.

The minister disclosed the information during a question-and-answer session in Parliament on Tuesday in response to a written query from Jamaalpur-3 lawmaker Mostafizur Rahman Babul.

According to Khosru, 61.97 per cent of the country's external debt consists of concessional loans, while the remai...