Bangladesh foreign currency reserves top $32 billion

Bangladesh Bank's foreign exchange reserves have bulged beyond the $32 billion mark.

The reserves were $32.05 billion after the end of Thursday, the central bank's spokesperson Shubhankar Saha told bdnews24.com.

The purse is estimated to be enough to pay nine-month import costs.

The reserves, however, are forecast to drop below $32 billion after $790 million is paid in import cost to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) next week.

The currency reserves, on the rise for past few years, crossed the $31 billion mark on Sep 1.

Only once has Bangladesh delayed paying the ACU - in 2001 to avert an image dent as the reserves would have dropped below $1 billion if the import costs were paid at that time.

Now after around 16 years, the reserves are as high as 32 times that amount.

The reserves are rising despite a dip in the flow of remittances by over 15 percent in past four months.

State-run Agrani Bank Chairman and researcher Zaid Bakht says low imports kept the reserves high.

He also credited clearance of foreign aid and export earnings for the rise.

The researcher of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) sees the rise, even after having $81 million stolen by cyber thieves, as a positive sign for the economy.