In the first 29 days of this month, the country received 3 billion dollars in remittances, which has helped ease the dollar shortage.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank’s total foreign currency reserves have exceeded 33 billion dollars, or 3,300 crore dollars, the highest in the past three years.
Previously, reserves had first crossed 33 billion dollars in 2017 and reached 48 billion dollars in 2021. At the time of the fall of the Awami League government, reserves had dropped to 26 billion dollars.
Remittance inflows
In the first 29 days of this month, remittance inflows have exceeded 3 billion dollars, or 300 crore dollars, reaching 304 crore dollars.
Since the fall of the Awami League government in August last year, remittance inflows have maintained a positive trend. This led to a record in March, when 329 crore dollars in remittances came into the country—the highest for any single month so far. This month, remittances have again surpassed 300 crore dollars.
According to Bangladesh Bank, total remittance inflows for the fiscal year 2024-25 have reached 3,033 crore dollars, compared to 2,391 crore dollars in the previous fiscal year 2023-24.
Reserves on the rise
Due to increased remittance inflows, Bangladesh Bank has been buying dollars from commercial banks. Foreign loans are also coming in, contributing to the growth of reserves. As of Tuesday, reserves rose to 3,318 crore dollars. According to the IMF’s BPM6 accounting system, reserves stand at 2,851 crore dollars.
Bangladesh Bank data shows that on Tuesday, the central bank purchased 8.9 million dollars from seven banks through auction at a rate of Tk 122.30 per dollar. As a result, the central bank’s total dollar purchases in the first six months of the current fiscal year have reached 3.13 billion dollars, or 313 crore dollars. In December alone, Bangladesh Bank purchased over 1 billion dollars.
Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur recently stated at an event that reserves are expected to reach 34–35 billion dollars by the end of December.
He emphasised that this increase in reserves will be achieved by purchasing dollars domestically, not through loans from the IMF or any other institution, calling it the right decision.