Islamic sharia-based commercial banks have been warned to adjust their prolonged negative balance with the central bank's account, but suspension of their transactions with other banks not yet decided.
Meanwhile, a double dollop of IMF and ADB funds has come as a breather in worry over Bangladesh's depleting foreign-exchange reserves for now as the amount edges up to US $20.4 billion, a central banker said Sunday.
However, as per reports, harder terms hang over for qualifying for release of the next tranche of dollars from a US$4.7-billion loan package of the International Monetary Fund.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque informed journalists of the latest developments at an emergency press briefing held at its headquarters close on the heels of media reports that the BB warned the five Islamic banks to stop their transactions if the negative current-account balance is not adjusted in 20 days.
"It's a routine work. It's a warning, not a decision," he says to dispel any confusion over the banks' status.
The BB spokesperson mentions that five unconventional lenders - Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank and Union Bank -- have been sufferings from major liquidity tightness to adjust the balance of their current accounts with the BB account.
"It's a routine work, nothing else. We just warn them to clear the deficit. But no decision is taken yet regarding stopping transactions with other banks if the banks failed to adjust," he told the media.
He said the central bank as part of its inflation-combating steps took contractionary monetary policy to squeeze money supply to the market which affected overall liquidity situation in banks.
The banks experiencing negative balance in their accounts normally come to the central bank and seek liquidity supports through various instruments like treasury bonds, bills and sukuk.
"There are several windows through which the conventional banks can avail credit supports from the BB. But unconventional banks don't have enough windows, which creates the problem," he said.
"We need to, somehow, create more windows for Islami Banks allowing them more liquidity-getting options from the BB," he said.
The Bangladesh Bank provides support to the banks with a negative balance in their current accounts, which is adjusted later. It is an ongoing process, Mr Haque mentioned.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's gross foreign-currency reserves rose to US$20.41 billion after the country received loans amounting to $1.09 billion from two global lenders -the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The much-needed props to the country's stock of foreign currencies, the greenback in particular, come at a time when the $460-billion economy has been passing through tough times because of depleting forex reserves.
The spokesperson says that, in fact, the country's gross foreign-currency reserves now stand at $25.82 billion. But, in accordance with calculation in IMF's BPM6 module, it is $20.40 billion.
The central banker informs that the gross volume of reserves had stood at $19.17 billion before the loans from the IMF and the ADB were credited into the BB account on Thursday.
Of the sum, $689 million came from the IMF and $400 million from the ADB, Mr Haque, also an executive director of the central bank, told the financial reporters.
Amid pressure from global macroeconomic volatilities and ongoing forex dearth, Bangladesh has taken many measures to bolster its economy with stabilising the exchange rate. As part of those efforts, the BB continues feeding the greenback to the dollar-starved commercial banks to meet their overseas-payment obligations from its forex reserves.
This triggered quick depletion of the reserves over time. Since August 2021, when reserves stood at an impressive $48 billion, the stock of dollars had fallen to $19 billion in November last.
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