Forex reserves to hit $40b by year-end: BB Governor
Business Report :
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur on Wednesday said that the foreign exchange reserve is projected to reach US $40 billion within this year.
While speaking to the media at the Bangladesh Secretariat, the Governor shared an optimistic trajectory for the country’s financial health.
He said the reserves are expected to cross the $35 billion mark within the current month, building a stronger foundation for the months ahead.
Dr Mansur acknowledged that the banking and financial sectors have faced massive irregularities in the past, which would take time to fully rectify.
He, however, expressed confidence in the ongoing reform initiatives taken by the current interim government. “The fragility of the economy has not been entirely eliminated yet, but the situation is moving toward stability.”
The Governor also expressed hope that the elected government would carry forward these essential reform activities.
Speaking on broader economic indicators, Dr Mansur said that although the target of reducing inflation to 7 per cent has yet to be achieved, the central bank remains firmly committed to bringing it down through sustained policy efforts.
Meanwhile, Inflow of remittances witnessed a year-on-year growth of 24.6 percent reaching $1.970 billion in the first 17 days of February, according to the latest data of Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued on Wednesday.
Last year, during the same period, the country’s remittance inflow was $1.581 billion.
During July to February 17, 2026 of the current fiscal year, expatriates sent remittances of $21.403 billion, which was $17.543 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Meanwhile, due to the increase in remittances, Bangladesh Bank is purchasing dollars from banks. As a result, the total foreign currency reserves have increased to 34.53 billion dollars.
As of Tuesday, the total foreign currency reserves at Bangladesh Bank increased to 34.53 billion dollars, which, according to the IMF”s BPM6 calculation method, stands at 29.85 billion dollars.
On 7 February, the reserves were 34.06 billion dollars, which according to the IMF”s BPM6 calculation method was 29.47 billion dollars.
In anticipation of the election, expatriates are remitting an average of 112.5 million dollars per day this month. Expatriate income or remittances have increased over the past two months around the election.
In the first month of this year, in January, remittances amounted to 3.17 billion dollars. In the previous month, December, 3.22 billion dollars were received.
