The Bangladesh Bank has repaid $3.3 billion or nearly 90 per cent of the foreign overdue payments after the political change on August 5, 2024.
Before the interim government took office, the overdue payments had reached $3.7 billion, according to BB spokesperson Husne Ara Shikha.
Husne Ara, also executive director of the BB, said that the central bank had faced immense pressure from international organisations to settle these debts, prompting a BB decision to repay the entire amount by December 2024.
Since the fall of the Awami League regime amid a student-led mass uprising, the Bangladesh Bank repaid $3.3 billion of the total overdue amount, but the remaining $400 million could not be cleared due to legal disputes.
Despite the significant repayments, Bangladesh鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves increased to $21.33 billion as of December 29, 2024.
Husne Ara attributed this rise to higher remittance inflows and a reduction in money laundering.
She observed that the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserves were expected to rise further, as foreign lenders have begun disbursing loans to Bangladesh.
BB officials said that the repayment of overdue loans would help improve the country鈥檚 global image and raise its sovereign credit rating, which had been under scrutiny in recent years.
M Masrur Reaz, founder and chairman of the Policy Exchange Bangladesh, told 抖阴精品 that the central bank managed to halt the depletion of foreign exchange reserves, enabling it to meet foreign payment obligations.
The reserves had declined steadily until July.
鈥楾he Bangladesh Bank has implemented stringent measures, including the halting of dollar sales from the foreign exchange reserves, to stabilise the dollar market,鈥� he said.
鈥業t has also taken a firm stance against money laundering and corruption, which has contributed to the recovery and growth of the reserves,鈥� he said.
Masrur noted that these key actions discouraged speculative behaviour among remittance senders, encouraging them to use formal channels to send funds.
鈥楾he formation of a new government and the introduction of effective measures have significantly boosted public confidence across all sectors,鈥� he added.
In addition to the robust inflow of remittances, a notable increase in export earnings during this period further bolstered the country鈥檚 foreign currency reserves, Masrur said.
He, however, cautioned that the central bank must enhance its monitoring of the dollar market to check manipulation and must work to prevent further devaluation of the local currency.
Remittance inflow to Bangladesh reached a record high of $13.77 billion for the first half (July-December) of the 2024-25 financial year, with December alone contributing record $2.63 billion, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
It is a significant increase compared with $10.9 billion in the same period of the previous financial year.
In January-December 2024, remittance inflow hit $27 billion, 23 per cent higher than the amount in the same period of the previous year.
Bankers attributed the surge in remittance inflow to the rise in the dollar exchange rate and a reduction in money laundering through illegal channels such as hundi.
The dollar rate soared to maximum Tk聽129 each on December 24 from Tk聽120 on December 10.
The high dollar rates attracted expatriates to use formal channels for money transfers, avoiding illegal channels like hundi, bankers said.
The dollar rate was Tk 110 in December 2023, Tk 99 in December 2022 and Tk 84.8 in July 2021.