Forex reserves now $32.57b

Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves fell below $33 billion after the central bank cleared $1.12 billion import bills to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).
With the payment, forex reserves held by the central bank stood at $32.57 billion, data from the Bangladesh Bank showed on Monday.
“The central bank reimbursed ACU liabilities worth $1.12 billion for the months of November and December, and which has been adjusted on Sunday,” Md. Mezbaul Haque, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told The New Nation yesterday.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by a whopping $10.39 billion just in a year (from 4 January 2022 to 4 January 2023) as the central bank continue to supply dollars into the market to restore stability in the currency market as well as stem fall in the local currency.
BB has sold $7.65 billion from reserves during the July-December period of this fiscal year. It had sold $7.62 billion from reserves in the last fiscal year (2021-22).
The total reserves were at $44.33 billion on
4 January 2022 and reached $33.74 billion at the end of December 2022.
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves soared to $48 billion, the highest-ever in the country’s history in August 2021.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves have been declining since May of 2022 due to the high level of import payments resulting from high commodity prices for global supply chain interruptions caused by the Russia’s incursions into Ukraine.
Bangladesh paid a total import bill of $6.15 billion in October 2022. As such, it is possible to cover the import bill of five months with the current level of foreign exchange reserves.