Forex reserve hits US$19 billion mark

The country’s foreign currency reserve hit a record high US$ 19-billion mark  Wednesday.
The forex reserve now stands at US$ 19048.09 million which is enough to meet import expenditures of the next six months, according to a central bank statement.
During the last three months, the country’s forex reserve marked a rise by US$ 1 billion and Bangladesh is in the second position among the Saarc countries in terms of forex reserve, the statement said.
The central bank sees increased inflow of remittance through formal channel, expediting the efforts to control money laundering and rise in export earnings during the July-December period as key reasons behind the surging forex reserve, according to a news agency.