Bangladesh鈥檚 gross foreign exchange reserve, calculated as per the International Monetary Fund鈥檚 guidelines, has increased marginally to $18.49 billion on Thursday amid increased remittance inflow and export earnings.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the reserve rose to this level on the day from $18.43 billion on November 13.
The reserve was over $20 billion on November 8, which declined to the current level in the following day as a $1.5-billion payment was made to the Asian Clearing Union against import bills for September and October.
The payment is made in every two months.
According to conventional valuation by the Bangladesh Bank, the foreign exchange reserve dropped to $24.16 billion.
The Asian Clearing Union is a payment settlement forum whereby the participants settle payments for intra-regional transactions through the participating central banks on a net multilateral basis.
Payment obligations of transactions among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are settled through the ACU payment system.
The BB has recently stopped selling dollars directly from its foreign exchange reserve to banks and instead has sourced dollars from the interbank market to meet government obligations.
BB officials said that remittance inflows surged after political changes on August 5, reaching $8.93 billion in July-September of the 2024-25 financial year, compared with those of $6.87 billion in the same period of the past year.
Export earnings, another prime source of foreign currency, have also increased in recent months.
Bangladesh鈥檚 export earnings in October 2024 increased by 20.65 per cent year-on-year to $4.13 billion compared with those of $3.42 billion in the same month of 2023, riding on increased shipments of readymade garments.
The country鈥檚 export earnings in four months (July-October) of the current financial year 2024-25 grew by 10.80 per cent to $15.79 billion compared with those of $14.25 billion in the same period of FY24, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data.
The Bangladesh Bank adheres to the IMF鈥檚 Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 6th edition (BPM6), for calculating both the gross international reserve and the net international reserve.
The Bangladeshi taka weakened against the US dollar, reaching Tk聽120 a dollar, driven by a dollar shortage and pressures on banks to settle import payments.
The exchange rate per dollar was Tk 84.81 in June 2021, Tk 93.45 in June 2022 and Tk 106 in June 2023.
This ongoing dollar crisis has significantly impacted banks鈥� ability to settle import payments and open letters of credit, creating challenges for businesses.
The BB sold about $34 billion from its reserve in the past three financial years, which contributed most to depletion of reserve. The reserve was $48 billion in August 2021.
