Foreign exchange reserves have reached the $25 billion mark again, thanks to an increased inflow of foreign currency generated by remittances and export earnings.
As per the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) calculation method, forex reserves stood at $25.05 billion on Wednesday, up from $24.77 billion a week ago, according to the central bank’s latest data.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. However, as per BB’s calculation, forex reserves stood at $30.07 billion, up from $29.80 billion a week ago.
At the end of June this year, reserves crossed $25 billion after two and a half years, thanks to an increased inflow of remittances and the release of funds by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), and other lending agencies.
The forex reserves, however, dropped below the $25 billion mark following the payment of import bills through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).
Bangladesh Bank officials said that the forex reserves have increased in recent months as remittance inflow has been growing since the political changeover in August last year, which helped tackle the sharp fall in the country’s reserves.
On the other hand, global lenders including the IMF, World Bank, and ADB released funds for Bangladesh in recent months, which boosted the forex reserves.
Bankers said that the slow import growth, declining trend of hundi—an illegal cross-border transaction—after the political changeover, stabilisation of the foreign exchange market, and narrowing gap between official and informal exchange rates have helped build the forex reserves amid the interim government.
Not only have the forex reserves grown, the country’s balance of payments returned to a surplus in the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25, ending a three-year spell of deficits.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the overall balance of payments posted a surplus of $3.3 billion at the end of FY25, bouncing back from a $4.3 billion deficit the previous year.
The country’s forex reserves had started to decline at the end of 2021 and this continued until the fall of the Awami League-led government due to a massive uprising.
