Bangladesh’s Foreign Reserves Drop to $26.43 Billion

Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves have decreased to $26.43 billion today from $28 billion as of November 6, according to the International Monetary Fund’s computation method. The decline in reserves was a result of settling $1.61 billion in import expenses through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), an organization based in Tehran that facilitates payment settlements among nine member nations: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh follows a bi-monthly import bill settlement cycle under the ACU mechanism, causing a temporary reduction in reserves after each payment. Despite dropping below $20 billion in the first half of the previous year, foreign exchange reserves have been on an upward trend in recent months, supported by increased remittances and export earnings inflows.