Bangladesh forex reserves hit new record of $35b amid virus pandemic

The foreign exchange reserves of the country has crossed $35 billion mark for the first time.

According to sources at Bangladesh Bank, the forex reserves with the central bank stood at 35.09 billion on Wednesday which is equivalent to Tk 2982.65 billion, reports UNB.

The central bank officials said the recent enhancement in the inflow of remittance from the expatriate Bangladeshis in recent days has resulted in the new record.

The foreign loans and financial assistance from different multilateral donor agencies like World Bank, ADB and JICA also helped grow the reserve position to a significant level.

Earlier, the highest record in the country’s foreign exchange reserves with Bangladesh Bank was $34.23 billion on 3 June.

BB officials said the remittance inflow got a momentum following the announcement of 2 per cent incentives by the government in June last year in the national budget.

The government offered the 2 per cent incentive to encourage the expatriates to send remittance through official channels.

As a result, the average monthly remittance income increased to 1.6 billion from 1.2 billion. After their start of the coronavirus outbreak, the remittance inflow was slowed down in March and April.

But it again showed an increase in May, said a BB official.