US restrictions on ACU payments: BD likely to lose trade payments facility: BB
Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh will lose the trade payments facility between the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) member states if we halt ACU-related payments following the US restrictions on processing payments linked to the ACU through which Bangladesh also settles deferred import payments, Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque said yesterday.
Answering a question about the revised payment procedure if the ACU system is closed, Md Mezbaul Haque told the New Nation on Tuesday that , “We will carry on the way we normally import and export with other countries and the payment method will be the same.”
“But then immediate payment has to be made. Now, using the ACUmechanism we are able to pay the member countries after two months.” he added.
The Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson also confirmed that the central Bank has not received any instructions regarding not settling transactions through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) yet, said the Bangladesh Bank spokesperson.
“There is a secretariat board in the ACU.
If there was any such instruction we would have received the letter,” said Haque
He also informed yesterday that the local banks made transactions with India and other related countries using Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism till date.
However, concerns are being raised as Bangladesh, alongside other member countries India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, use the ACU to settle deferred import payments due to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control advised banks to halt ACU-related payments.
Experts said the move by OFAC meant that settlements via foreign banks in US dollars under the ACU umbrella would no longer be possible.
Meanwhile, The ACU was established in 1974 to enable regional cooperation, economize on foreign exchange reserves, and promote trade among its members.
Alongside Bangladesh, ACU members also include India, Iran, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives.
Under the current ACU arrangement, the participants are authorized to settle transactions either in US dollar or European Union’s euro.
Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, clears around US$1.0 billion- plus ACU liabilities every two months. Besides, India controls nearly 93 per cent of the ACU’s credit positions.
