The gross foreign exchange reserves in Bangladesh, according to the International Monetary Fund guidelines, dropped to $20.38 billion on Wednesday after a payment to Asian Clearing Union.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the foreign exchange reserves reached the current level on Monday from $23.25 billion on August 31.
However, according to the conventional valuation by the Bangladesh Bank, the foreign exchange reserves were $25.65 billion on Monday.
The reserve depleted significantly on Wednesday as import payments of $1.27 billion were made to the Asian Clearing Union for November and December on the day.
The decline in the country’s foreign exchange reserves continued due mainly to a significant dollar shortage on the market, which has compelled the central bank to continue selling dollars to the banks from its reserves, BB officials said.
The Asian Clearing Union is a payment settlement forum whereby the participants settle payments for intra-regional transactions through participating central banks on a net multilateral basis.
Payment obligations of transactions among Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are settled through the ACU payment system.
Apart from the payment obligations to ACU, the ongoing sales of foreign currency to the country’s banks by the
central bank contributed to the reduction in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The country’s financial sector is grappling with a severe dollar shortage as the value of the greenback continues to rise.
In response, the government and the central bank have implemented measures to restrict imports, particularly luxury and non-essential items.
Several banks are now collecting remittances at as high as Tk 124 per
dollar to meet their demand, even though the rate was set at Tk 110.5 per dollar by the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association.
The Bangladesh Bank follows the IMF’s BPM6 for calculating gross and net international reserves.
The net reserve, according to the IMF guidelines, was about $17 billion.
