Forex reserve to decline to nearly $5b

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FE Report
The country's payment to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) increased by 17.95 per cent during the September-October period compared with that of the July-August period of this year, official sources said.
The increase indicates that the imports, mainly food grains, from other ACU member countries, particularly India, have increased during the period.
The foreign exchange reserve is likely to come down to nearly US$5.0 billion (500 crore) after making the routine payment amounting to US$460 million to the ACU by the first week of this month.
The amount of ACU payment has increased to $460 million during the September-October period from $390 million of the July-August period, sources in the central bank said.
Terming the figure of the ACU payment highest ever, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said the central bank will make the payment to the authorities concerned within the first week of this month.
"The payment for the ACU member countries has increased as import of food grains, raw cotton and fabrics has witnessed a sharp rise to meet the growing demands in the local market," the BB official told the FE.
He also said the trading activities among the ACU member countries have improved considerably.
The central bank will remit the fund to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provisions of the eight-member organisation.
Under the existing provisions, settlement of any balance and accrued interests is made at the end of every two months among the ACU member countries.
The foreign exchange reserve stood at $5.40 billion Wednesday after selling out $76 million by the central bank to the commercial banks as part of the intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market
The central bank started intervention in the market Monday that continued until Tuesday to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable.
However, the ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to facilitate intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks on a multilateral basis.
The ACU started its operations in November 1975 to help boost trade relations among its member countries. Bangladesh and Myanmar joined the union as the sixth and seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively. Bhutan joined the ACU on December 9, 1999.