BD forex reserves at record high in April

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves reached a record high of $20.37 billion at the end of April, more than 37 percent higher than a year earlier, the central bank said on Sunday, reports Reuters.
The higher reserves, which stem from a widening current-account surplus, can cover more than six months' imports.
At the end of April 2013, the reserves stood at $14.83 billion.
Rising exports and slow imports have helped build reserves despite a drop in remittances due to fewer Bangladeshis going abroad to work.
In the first three quarters of the fiscal year that began on July 1 last, exports were $22.24 billion, up 13 percent from a year earlier, largely due to stronger garment sales.
However, Bangladesh's garment industry has been hit by a string of fatal factory disasters, including the April 2013 collapse of building housing factories that killed more than 1,130 people.
In the first 10 months of the fiscal year, the central bank purchased nearly $4.2 billion from local commercial banks to stem the rise of the domestic currency.
Economic growth is expected to slip below 6 per cent in the one year ending in June, after the country was gripped by political turmoil in the run-up to an election in January. In 2012/13, the economy grew 6 per cent.