The country’s total foreign exchange reserve stood at USD 30 billion (Tk 3,000 crore) at the end of Thursday. However, according to the International Monetary Fund’s BPM6 accounting method, the reserve is calculated at USD 24.99 billion (Tk 2,499 crore). This was confirmed by sources from the Bangladesh Bank.
The foreign reserve was recorded at USD 31.72 billion (Tk 3,172 crore) on 30 June though. Meaning, the total reserve has declined by almost USD 1.72 billion (Tk 172 crore) over the past 24 days. Besides, according to the BPM6 calculation, the reserve at the end of last month stood at USD 26.70 billion (Tk 2,670 crore), marking a decrease of USD 1.71 billion (Tk 171 crore) during the same period.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the central bank paid USD 2.01 billion (Tk 201 crore) to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) for import dues from May and June on 8 July. After that, the total reserve fell to USD 29.52 billion (Tk 2,952 crore), and according to the BPM6 method it dropped to USD 24.45 billion (Tk 2,445 crore).
Since the fall of the Awami League government, remittances sent through official channels have increased significantly. In the outgoing 2024-25 fiscal year, Bangladesh received USD 30 billion (Tk 3,000 crore) in remittances, which is 26 per cent higher than that from the previous year. Meanwhile, despite various challenges export earnings in the same fiscal grew by 8.5 per cent.
Both major sources of foreign currency -- remittances and export earnings -- have maintained a positive trend, and so stability has returned to the foreign exchange market. This has eased pressure on the reserve.
The Bangladesh Bank has not been selling dollars from its reserve for the past 10 months. Additionally, several billion dollars in budget support and loans, tied to reforms in the banking and revenue sectors, are being disbursed as well leading to an increase in the reserve.
Meanwhile, with increased remittance inflows and higher export earnings against relatively low import demand have decreased the demand of dollars. That’s why the value of the US dollar had started to decline against the taka. Under these circumstances, the Bangladesh Bank purchased dollars from commercial banks through auctions to stabilise the dollar exchange rate this month.