Forex reserve now below $5b after ACU payment
Friday, 7 September 2007
FE Report
The country's foreign exchange reserve has come down to below US$5.0 billion mark after it has made payment of US$390 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) for July-August period of the current year.
The payment lowered the reserve to the level of $4.87 billion Thursday from $5.24 billion of the previous day, official sources said.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has remitted the fund to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provision of the eight-member organisation.
Under the existing provisions, settlement of the balance and accrued interests is made at the end of each two-month period among the ACU member countries.
"We have sent the payment to the authorities concerned in line with the existing provision," a BB senior official told the FE Thursday, adding that India is main trading partner of Bangladesh among the ACU member countries.
Sources, however, said the amount of payment rose to $390 million in the July-August period from $380 million in May-June of this year, showing Bangladesh's raising imports from the other ACU member countries.
"We are importing different consumer items, raw materials and machinery and food grains from the ACU member countries, particularly India, to meet their growing demands in the local markets," a senior official of a nationalised commercial bank told the FE.
He also said the trading activities among the ACU member countries have improved considerably.
The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to settle payments for 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 the seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively. However, Bhutan joined the ACU December 9, 1999.
The country's foreign exchange reserve has come down to below US$5.0 billion mark after it has made payment of US$390 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) for July-August period of the current year.
The payment lowered the reserve to the level of $4.87 billion Thursday from $5.24 billion of the previous day, official sources said.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has remitted the fund to the ACU headquarters in Tehran in line with the existing provision of the eight-member organisation.
Under the existing provisions, settlement of the balance and accrued interests is made at the end of each two-month period among the ACU member countries.
"We have sent the payment to the authorities concerned in line with the existing provision," a BB senior official told the FE Thursday, adding that India is main trading partner of Bangladesh among the ACU member countries.
Sources, however, said the amount of payment rose to $390 million in the July-August period from $380 million in May-June of this year, showing Bangladesh's raising imports from the other ACU member countries.
"We are importing different consumer items, raw materials and machinery and food grains from the ACU member countries, particularly India, to meet their growing demands in the local markets," a senior official of a nationalised commercial bank told the FE.
He also said the trading activities among the ACU member countries have improved considerably.
The ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to settle payments for 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 the seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively. However, Bhutan joined the ACU December 9, 1999.