Bangladesh trumps Pakistan in forex reserves

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves have surpassed those of Pakistan by more than one and a half times in what is seen as another victory in December.

The reserves stood at $22.4 billion on Thursday thanks to buoyant remittance inflow and rising export income.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has $13.82 billion in reserves.

"Our reserves have reached the highest in 43 years," an elated Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

"It is another triumph in the month of victory," he said acknowledging remittance and export income's major role.

India has the highest forex reserves among SAARC nations with $315 billion.

A country should ideally have reserves to foot the import bill for at least three months.

But, Bangladesh has enough reserves to pay import bills for seven months, said the central bank's Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Division's chief Kazi Saidur Rahman.

The reserves will likely be above $22 billion until the next Asian Clearing Union bill is paid in January.

He said rising US dollar prices had somewhat encouraged the expats to remit more in recent times.

But the Taka-Dollar exchange rate was "stable".

In the first five months of this fiscal (Jul-Nov), remittance increased by 11 percent.

In November, Bangladesh received a $1.17 billion from expats, 24 percent higher than in October.

On the other hand, the export income increased by 9.5 percent last month.