Forex reserves cross $26b mark

Country's foreign exchange (forex) reserves crossed US$26-billion mark Monday for the first time largely due to lower import-payment pressure on the economy, officials said.
The reserves of the international trading currency amounted to $26.03 billion on the day, setting a new record, from $25.90 billion of the previous working day. It was $25.02 billion on June 25 last.
"The country's forex reserves crossed $26 billion mainly due to lower prices of commodities, particularly fuel oils, on the global market," Kazi Sayedur Rahman, general manager of the Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Department of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), told the FE.
Bangladesh saves more than $300 million each month because of lower prices of petroleum products on the international market, the central banker explained.
Mr Rahman also said the country will be able to settle more seven months' import bills with the existing forex reserves.
Steady growth of both export earnings and inward remittances has contributed to enhancing the country's forex-reserve position, according to the central banker.
The country received $590.03 million as remittances between August 01 and August 14 from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad, according to the central bank's latest statistics.
Besides, purchase of the US dollar from the commercial banks also added up to the reserves recently.
"The central bank is purchasing the greenback from the banks continuously to help keep the inter-bank forex market stable," another BB official said.
As part of the move, the BB bought $26 million from four commercial banks at market rate Monday.
He also said the central bank may continue such intervention in line with the market requirement.
A total of $1.14 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and August 17 of the current fiscal year (FY), 2015-16, for offsetting its increased supply to the market. The BB bought $3.76 billion from the commercial banks in the last financial year.
In FY'14 and FY'13, the central bank had bought $5.15 billion and $4.54 billion respectively, the BB data showed.
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