Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh has made a routine payment of US$1.04 billion to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports during the July -August period of 2019.
After the payment, the foreign exchange (forex) reserve fell to $31.85 on Thursday from $ 32.77 billion of the previous working day.
The highest $33.68 billion reserves were recorded on September 05, 2017.
Bangladesh will be able to settle more than six months of import bills with the existing forex reserve.
Meanwhile, the amount of ACU payment rose to $1.04 billion during the period under review from $1.02 billion earlier indicates higher imports from the ACU member countries, particularly from India.
Bangladesh is importing different consumer items, cotton, raw materials and capital machinery from the ACU member countries, particularly from India, according to the central bankers.
“We’ve already remitted $1.04 billion to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provisions of the union,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the BBN in Dhaka.
The ACU is an arrangement involving Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the
Maldives and intraregional transactions among the participating central banks are made on a multilateral basis.
The union started its operation in November 1975 to boost trade among the member countries.
Bangladesh and Myanmar joined the union as the sixth and seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively.
BBN/SSR/AD
