Bangladesh’s forex reserves fell below $19 billion – the lowest in eleven months. After Asian Clearing Union (ACU) payment, the reserves stood at $18.26 billion on Monday, adjusted in line with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) BPM6 method.
Confirming the matter to The Business Post, Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and spokesperson Mezbaul Haque said, “$1.63 billion in ACU payment got settled on Monday, and the forex reserves now stands at $18.26 billion.”
It should be noted that according to the central bank’s calculation, the forex reserves now stands at $23.71 billion after the ACU payment, down from $25.27 billion posted on May 8.
Though the central bank has taken many austerity measures to resolve the USD shortage, it has not yet been able to slow down the depletion of forex reserves. The central bank even started the swap system with the local banks to boost the forex reserves.
Voicing criticism, experts said the central bank is still selling the USD from the country’s forex reserves to private banks, in a bid to facilitate the imports of commodity and fuel under letters of credit (LCs).
