Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s foreign exchange (forex) reserve has crossed the US$32 billion-mark for the first time following lower import payment pressure on the economy, officials said.
The forex reserve rose to $32. 05 billion on Thursday, setting a new record, from $31.97 billion of the previous working day, according to the central bank latest statistics.
The forex reserve was $31.16 billion on August 31 last.
“Our forex reserve has crossed the $32 billion-mark mainly due to lower import payment obligations,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the country will be able to settle more than eight months import bills with the existing forex reserve.
Besides, purchasing of the US dollar from the commercial banks has contributed to increasing the forex reserve recently, the central banker added.
A total of $1.82 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 11 and November 3 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 for offsetting the impact of its increased supply to the market.
Talking to BBN, another BB official said the forex will decrease in the next week after making a routine payment of $790 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports during the September-October period of this calendar year.
BBN/SSR/AD