BB pays $1.51b in ACU bills

The central bank has paid the last $1.51 billion in Asian Clearing Union (ACU) liabilities or import bills of March and April.

Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson of the central bank, confirmed the development to bdnedws24.com on Thursday.

The previous ACU bill amounted to $1.37 billion.

Bangladesh was supposed to pay the latest ACU instalment next week.

Foreign exchange reserves usually fall after paying import bills.

The ACU bill usually fluctuates  between $1 and $1.3 billion.

Earlier, when the Ukraine-Russia war began, it exceeded $1.5 billion once in 2022. And the payment for the last two months crossed the $1.5 billion mark yet again following the Iran war.

However, Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, thinks the inflated bill will not have an "uncomfortable" impact on the country's economy.

He told bdnews24.com, "The entire payment period falls under a wartime. Import costs have soared. Over this period, some import bill for last Eid has been paid off.