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Bangladesh’s forex reserves are now down to USD 36.90 billion, despite the central bank’s move of curbing imports, and currency diversification in foreign trade.
According to the data of Bangladesh Bank, forex reserves on Wednesday stood at $36.90 billion, which was $37.08 billion last Monday.
In the first week of this month, the reserves fell to $37.06 billion as the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) cleared its July-August arrears of $1.74 billion. As of August 25 last year, the reserves were $48.60 billion. According to that, the reserve has decreased by $11.5 billion in one year.
This is happening due to the selling pressure of US dollars for import LCs and the surge of individual demand to meet travel, medical treatment, and tuition fees for foreign universities.
On September 1, 2022, forex reserves of Bangladesh were $39.05 billion.
Bangladesh Bank has been selling dollars from the reserves in continuation of last fiscal year to bring stability to the forex market. In total, the central bank has sold $2.57 billion from reserves in two months (July-August) and of the current FY 2022-23.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman said that despite the increase in remittance, forex reserve fell due to the continued sale of dollars.
“There is no problem even if the reserves fall to $38 billion in the current global context. Because, with this reserve, it is possible to meet the import expenses of more than six months,” he added.
(DT)
