Finance

Forex reserves set to cross $45 billion Forex Reserve
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Forex reserves set to cross $45 billion

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 29 Apr 2021, 01:53 pm

Dhaka, April 29: Despite the epidemic, Bangladesh Bank's foreign exchange reserves are reaching the milestone of USD 45 billion. At the end of the day on Wednesday (April 28), the reserves stood at USD 44.85 billion, which is more than ever before. This important indicator of the economy will soon cross USD 45 billion, said Md. Sirajul Islam, Executive Director and Spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank.

He said, "The country will celebrate eid in May. Expatriates always send more remittances to the country before Eid. This time too, expatriate Bangladeshis are sending remittances to their relatives to celebrate Eid comfortably."

According to the latest data, the country's central bank reserves surpassed USD 44.85 billion on April 28. In Bangladeshi currency, the amount is Tk 3,81,000 crore (taking Tk 75 per US Dollar). It is possible to meet the import cost of more than 11 months with this foreign currency which is stored as four billion dollars of import cost per month.

Earlier, on February 24 this year, the country's central bank reserves exceeded USD 44.02 billion. Earlier, on December 30, the country's central bank reserves exceeded USD 43 billion, on December 15 it exceeded USD 42 billion and on October 28 it exceeded USD 41 billion.

By international standards, a country must have at least three months' worth of foreign exchange reserves to cover import costs.

Central bank officials say remittances are now coming legally. Exports have also increased. In addition, the pressure on import spending has eased, reserves have increased due to foreign loan assistance from donors, the World Bank, the IMF and JICA, and grants from the World Bank. However, if the bill of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) is paid in advance, the reserve will be reduced again.

Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iran and Maldives are the nine members of ACU. Bangladesh pays the bills of the products imported from these countries through ACU every two months.