Staff Reporter :
The country’s foreign exchange reserves have come down to $42 billion within a week after exceeding the $43 billion mark for the first time.
Selected Economic Indicators released by the central bank on Thursday showed that the foreign exchange reserves were $42.13 billion on January 7.
Executive Director of the central bank Md Serajul Islam told media that the reserves fell following payment for import bills of $1.27 billion through the Asian Clearing Union.
The reserves increased amid the pandemic due to a high growth in remittance, suspension of investment spending and a decline in demand.
Remittance inflow was up 36 percent to nearly $13 billion in the first six months of the current financial year from the corresponding period last year.
At the same time, imports of consumer goods increased slightly in the July-November period, compared to the same period last year, but imports of industrial capital machinery and raw materials for production declined.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the reserves would exceed $50 billion by December this year.
The government will decide before the next fiscal year whether to spend money from the reserves on public projects, he said.
The Bangladesh Independent Power Producers Association recently wrote a letter to the Bangladesh Bank seeking loans from the reserves to set up new power plants.
