Forex reserve set to dip further this week

Bangladesh is set to face another blow to its forex reserves as it needs to settle import liabilities worth USD 1.1 to 1.2 billion with the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) this week.

As per the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescribed method, there was a foreign currency reserve of USD 23.06 billion on Wednesday, and it is expected to dip below USD 22 billion after the payment.

According to Bangladesh Bank, an amount of USD 1.10 billion was paid to the ACU for the imports between May and June. As the import volume was quite similar in the July-August period, a comparable payment will be made this time.

In May, the forex reserves depleted below USD 30 billion as per the central bank’s conventional estimation.

The situation improved to some extent when various loan funds were injected into the reserves.

The ACU is an inter-regional payment gateway for central banks to settle import and export bills between nine Asian countries after every two months.

The ACU member countries include Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Later, Sri Lanka was removed from the facility as it failed to settle its debt liabilities.