Bangladesh's foreign currency reserves have once again fell to$19.93 billion - a figure calculated using the International Monetary Fund's BPM-6 methodology, after paying $1.67 billion import payment through Asian Clearing Union (ACU) for the months of November and December, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data as of Thursday.
In September and October of last year, reserves fell below $20 billion. By November, the figure rose back to $20 billion, but subsequent ACU bill payments led to a decrease, with reserves dropping to $19 billion by mid-December.
Following an increase in dollar purchases by BB, the reserves briefly exceeded $20 billion on Dec 23, 2024, reaching $20.16 billion.
This figure peaked at $21.33 billion on Dec 29, 2024, the highest level since Jun 30, 2024, only to fall below $20 billion again three weeks later, after the ACU bill was paid.
Bdnews24.com adds: The ACU is an inter-regional settlement system facilitating instant transactions between central banks in Asia. Member countries, including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, and the Maldives, rely on the system for import-export settlements.
The country's foreign exchange reserves had peaked to a record $48 billion during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
However, since the pandemic subsided, rising import costs, exacerbated by global fuel and food price surges and the ongoing war in Ukraine, have contributed to the steady decline of reserves, a trend that has persisted since 2022.
Just four days before the fall of the Awami League government, the central bank released its reserve figures, which stood at $20.48 billion on Jul 30, 2024. The same amount was recorded again on Aug 21, 2024. —bdnews24.com
