Forex reserves fall below $21b

Foreign exchange reserves in Bangladesh have slipped below $21 billion as of October 18.

According to the central bank data, the reserves stood at $20.96 billion on Wednesday, which was $21.05 billion on October 4.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) data says the forex reserves of Bangladesh totalled nearly $40.7 billion in August 2021. It stood at $33.4 billion at the end of fiscal year 2021-22.

The reserves fell as the central bank has been helping local banks with import payments. Moreover, export earnings and remittances both have slipped lower recently. All these factors have contributed to draining the reserves.

/KN/