Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman took the charges of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) on Saturday.
Rahman took the charge during the 44th ACU board meeting held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The central bank governor will helm the Asian Clearing Union for one year term.
On Saturday, Dr Valiollah Seif, the governor of the central bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, handed over the charge to the Bangladesh Bank governor.
Earlier last year, during the 43rd board meeting of the ACU in Iran, Atiur was elected chairman of the union.
This year before wrapping up the 44th ACU board meeting in Dhaka, the chairman of the 45th ACU will be elected for next year.
ACU is the simplest form of payment arrangements whereby the participants settle payments for intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks on a multilateral basis.
The main objectives of a clearing union are to facilitate payments among member countries for eligible transactions, thereby economising on the use of foreign exchange reserves and transfer costs, as well as promoting trade among the participating countries.
Currently, nine central banks – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar – are the members of the ACU.
The central banking authority of member countries has issued detailed instructions and modalities for channeling the monetary transactions through the ACU.
Membership in the ACU is open to central banks located in the geographical area of ESCAP.
BBN/AI/AD