BB clears $380m payment to ACU

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FE Report
The country has made payment of US$380 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) for the May-June period of the current year.
Following this payment, the foreign exchange reserve stood at $4.73 billion Thursday last against $5.13 billion on the previous day, official sources said.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has remitted the fund to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provision of the eight-member organisation.
"We have sent the payment to the authorities concerned in line with existing provision," a BB senior official told the FE Saturday, adding that India is main trading partner of Bangladesh among the ACU member countries.
He also said Bangladesh is importing different consumer items and raw materials from the ACU member countries, particularly from India, Pakistan and Iran to meet their growing demands in the local market.
Sources, however, said the amount of payment came down to $380 million in May-June period from $423 million in March-April this year, indicating a declining trend of Bangladesh's imports from the other ACU member countries.
The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to settle payments for intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks on a multilateral basis.
Under the existing provisions, settlement of the balance and accrued interests are made at the end of each two-month period among the member countries of the ACU.
The ACU started its operations in November 1975 to boost trade relations among its member countries. Bangladesh and Myanmar joined the union as sixth and seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively. However, Bhutan joined the ACU December 9, 1999.