Forex reserve now $10.40b after ACU payment
Monday, 12 July 2010
FE Report
The country has made a routine payment of US$604 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports for May-June period of this calendar year, officials said Sunday.
The payment pushed down the country’s foreign exchange reserve to $10.40 billion on the day from $11.02 billion of the previous day, the central bank officials confirmed.
“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 Bangladesh is importing different consumer items and industrial raw materials from the ACU member countries, particularly from India.
Under the existing provisions, outstanding import bills and interest accruing thereof are settled at the end of every two months amongst the member countries.
The amount of payment came down to $604 million during the period under review from $682 million earlier indicating lower imports in terms of value from other ACU member countries, the BB officials added.
The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives through which intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks are settled on a multilateral basis.
The union started its operations in November 1975 to boost trade relations among the member countries. Bangladesh and Myanmar joined the union as the sixth and the seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively.
The country has made a routine payment of US$604 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports for May-June period of this calendar year, officials said Sunday.
The payment pushed down the country’s foreign exchange reserve to $10.40 billion on the day from $11.02 billion of the previous day, the central bank officials confirmed.
“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 Bangladesh is importing different consumer items and industrial raw materials from the ACU member countries, particularly from India.
Under the existing provisions, outstanding import bills and interest accruing thereof are settled at the end of every two months amongst the member countries.
The amount of payment came down to $604 million during the period under review from $682 million earlier indicating lower imports in terms of value from other ACU member countries, the BB officials added.
The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives through which intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks are settled on a multilateral basis.
The union started its operations in November 1975 to boost trade relations among the member countries. Bangladesh and Myanmar joined the union as the sixth and the seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively.