Bangladesh‍‍`s useable forex reserves drop to $15.82 billion: Sources

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves continued to fall with the usable reserves standing now at USD $ 15.82 billion as per IMF guideline, according to banking sources familiar with the development on Tuesday.

During the period of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, the reserves had soared to $48 billion, thanks to greater inflow of remittances amid reduced import demand. The reserves started decreasing since the eased import restrictions and impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The latest foreign exchange report of Bangladesh Bank (BB) revealed that the country‍‍`s reserves on 23 November stood at $19.52 billion based on the IMF formula (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual) or BPM6.

As per the formula, the net reserves will be $3.7 billion less than the total reserve amount, the BB sources said.

The BB spokesperson Mezbaul Haque in this regard told UNB that foreign exchange from reserves is spent and deposited every day.

It is a continuous process of a country, he said advising common people not to panic at the news of decreasing foreign exchange.

In July, Bangladesh started calculating its foreign reserves according to a formula suggested by the International Monetary Fund – BPM6.

Following the new calculation, the country‍‍`s gross foreign exchange reserves that time dropped by $26.44bn to $23.56bn.