The gross foreign exchange reserve in Bangladesh, according to the guideline of the International Monetary Fund, has dropped to $19.46 billion after the payment of import bills worth $1.37 billion to the Asian Clearing Union for July and August.
Before the payment, the foreign exchange reserve was $20.8 billion.
The payment is made in every two months.
However, according to conventional valuation by the Bangladesh Bank, the foreign exchange reserve dropped to $24.53 billion on Monday from $25.87 billion in the previous day.
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.
Following the political changes in Bangladesh since August 5, the central bank stopped selling dollars from its reserve, BB officials said.
Therefore, the decline will not affect the reserve as it would revive soon, they said
The reserve came down to the current level following continued sales of dollars in the past three years.
The foreign reserve was $20.39 billion on July 31 which increased to $20.8 billion on Sunday due to increased remittance flow after the fall of Awami League-led government.
Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising.
The BB sold about $34 billion from its reserve in the past three financial years, which contributed most to depletion of reserve.
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 (GIR)聽 and the net international reserve (NIR).
The Bangladeshi taka weakened against the US dollar, reaching Tk 120 for a dollar, driven by a dollar shortage and a pressure on banks to settle import payments.
The exchange rate per dollar was Tk聽84.81 in June 2021, Tk聽93.45 in June 2022 and Tk聽106 in June 2023.
The ongoing dollar crisis has substantially affected banks鈥� capacity to settle import payments and open letters of credit, posing challenges for businesses.
To address the dollar shortage, the government and the Bangladesh Bank had jointly introduced measures to curtail imports.
These initiatives involve restrictions on luxury and non-essential imports.