Dhaka: Once again, Bangladesh Bank’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen below 30 billion dollars. At the end of Thursday, the amount of reserves stood at 2 thousand 403 million dollars.
The information is from the concerned department of Bangladesh Bank.
According to sources, the reserve stood at 2 thousand 993 million dollars at the beginning of the day on Thursday (May 25). Then 5 crore 9 million dollars were sold to the banks. As a result, at the end of the day, the reserve decreased to 2 thousand 403 million dollars.
No official in charge agreed to speak on the matter.
At the beginning of this May, the dollar once fell below 30 billion or 3 thousand dollars. Reserves at the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) fell below $30 billion after paying $1.18 billion in March-April import bills. After that, the World Bank loan increased slightly to over 30 billion dollars. After that, when the dollar was sold to meet the import costs of the commercial banks, the reserve came back below 30 billion dollars.
Foreign exchange reserves started to increase rapidly in 2020 when the covid pandemic started. At that time, when imports decreased and people traveled abroad, Bangladesh Bank’s reserves increased rapidly. In the latter half of 2021, the amount of reserves increased to more than 4 thousand 8 billion dollars. This situation will continue until the covid pandemic is completely stopped. But when the economic recovery starts, imports increase, people start traveling abroad. As a result of this, the reserve decreases.
The reserve situation deteriorated rapidly when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. As global inflation rises, import costs rise, and reserves fall in tandem. Reserves are strained as commercial banks sell dollars to meet import costs. Conversely, the rate at which the supply of dollars was supposed to increase, did not.
At this time, Bangladesh Bank’s steps did not work. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was approached to resolve the crisis. The IMF disburses the first installment of the loan. But even then the risk limit of the reserve cannot be maintained.
