Forex reserves with Bangladesh Bank approach $23 billion mark

The foreign exchange reserves with the central bank have neared $23-billion mark.

The reserves stood at $22.997 billion at the closing of Monday’s transactions.

Bangladesh Bank’s forex reserves and treasury management department General Manager Kazi Saidur Rahman said the figure would cross the $23 billion, for the second time, at the beginning of Tuesday’s transactions.

Bangladesh saw its forex reserves going over the mark for the first time on Feb 26.

The figure dropped to $22 billion after Bangladesh Bank cleared import bills for January-February period to Asian Clearing Union (ACU) in the first week of March.

Rahman attributed fresh rise in reserves to remittance inflow and increased import earnings.

He told bdnews24.com the reserves could meet over seven months’ import bills.

The central bank will require clearing the import bills for March-April period in the first week of May.

According to Bangladesh Bank, the country received $1.18 billion remittances in the first 27 days of the current month.

Central bankers expect the figure will cross $1.3 billion in the entire month.

Non-resident Bangladeshis sent home $9.91 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, beginning on July 1. The figure represents a 7.63 percent growth over that in the same previous period.

Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics show import earnings increased by 2.43 percent during the July-February period from the figure in the previous corresponding period.

Former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin said touching the $23-billion forex reserves mark amid political agitations was a good sign for the economy.