Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh's gross foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by US$143.42 million in last week following lower import payment obligations and higher inflow of remittances, officials said.
The forex reserve rose to $25.44 billion on October 30 from $25.30 billion on October 23 as per traditional calculation of the Bangladesh Bank (BB). It was $24.74 billion on September 30.
As per the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Balance of Payments International Investment Poisson Manual-six edition, generally known as BMP6, the forex reserves rose to $19.87 billion during the period under review from $19.81 billion, according to the central bank’s latest data, released on Thursday.
Such reserve was $20.79 billion on September 30.
The reserve, one of the major macroeconomic indicators of an economy, fell to $24.53 billion in terms of gross calculation of the central bank after clearing $1.37 billion import payments to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) on September 07 last while the reserve stood at $19.46 billion as per IMF’s BMP6.
Talking to the BBN, a BB senior official said higher inflow of remittances has helped the country's forex reserves cross $25 billion.
The flow of inward remittances grew by more than 33 per cent to $6.54 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY 2024-25), from $4.91 billion in the same period of FY '24.
Besides, purchasing of the US currency from the commercial banks directly has contributed to the growth of the forex reserves in recent days, the central banker explained.
The BB so far this month (October) bought around $50 million from the commercial banks as part of its intervention into the market, the BB data showed. Such buying was $88.50 million in September.
On the other hand, the selling of the greenback from the reserves of the central bank almost suspended recently, contributing to build up the forex reserves.
The central bank sold only $10 million until October 28 to the commercial banks for settling import payment obligations. It was $111 million in September.
On the other hand, the actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) fell by 2.40 per cent to US$ 16.21 billion during the July-September period of the FY'25, from $16.61 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to the central bank's latest data.
However, the opening of fresh LCs, generally known as import orders, dropped by 6.74 per cent to $15.59 billion in the first three months of this fiscal from $16.72 billion in the same period of FY '24.
BBN/SSR/AD