Forex reserve falls following ACU payment
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Siddique Islam
Bangladesh has made a routine payment of nearly US$ 1.0 billion to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports during the March-April period of this calendar year. The payment pushed the country's foreign exchange reserve down to $ 10.41 billion Wednesday from $ 11.37 billion of the previous working day, the central bank officials said. "We've remitted the fund to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provision of the nine-member union," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. He also said the amount of payment declined slightly to $ 986 million in the last instalment from $ 993 million earlier mainly due to decrease in imports, particularly consumer goods from other ACU member countries. The import of consumer goods came down to $ 1.279 billion during July-March period of this fiscal from $ 1.387 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics. "We're importing different consumer items and raw materials from the ACU member countries, particularly from India to meet the growing demand for the commodities in the local market," the central bank official added. Under the existing provisions, outstanding import bills and interest accruing thereof are settled at the end of every two-month period among the member countries. The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives through which intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks are settled on a multilateral basis.
Bangladesh has made a routine payment of nearly US$ 1.0 billion to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports during the March-April period of this calendar year. The payment pushed the country's foreign exchange reserve down to $ 10.41 billion Wednesday from $ 11.37 billion of the previous working day, the central bank officials said. "We've remitted the fund to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provision of the nine-member union," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. He also said the amount of payment declined slightly to $ 986 million in the last instalment from $ 993 million earlier mainly due to decrease in imports, particularly consumer goods from other ACU member countries. The import of consumer goods came down to $ 1.279 billion during July-March period of this fiscal from $ 1.387 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics. "We're importing different consumer items and raw materials from the ACU member countries, particularly from India to meet the growing demand for the commodities in the local market," the central bank official added. Under the existing provisions, outstanding import bills and interest accruing thereof are settled at the end of every two-month period among the member countries. The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives through which intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks are settled on a multilateral basis.