Forex reserves dip slightly

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves dipped slightly to US $32.13 billion as of end of July, Bangladesh Bank (BB) data showed, reports Xinhua.

According to the central bank, the country's foreign exchange reserves stood at $32,127.24 million in July, 2019, compared with $32,536.86 million in the previous month.

For a growing economy like Bangladesh, forex reserves equivalent to six months' import bills are considered adequate.

With the existing reserves, BB officials said Bangladesh is still in a position to pay about seven months' import bills. Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves crossed the 33-billion-US-dollar mark in June, 2017.

Meanwhile, millions of Bangladeshis remitted home $1.56 billion in July, the first month of the current financial year (July 2019-June 2020 fiscal year), a central bank official said on Monday.

The BB official who declined to be unnamed said that "the flow of inward remittances surged 43.21 per cent year-on-year to $1,597.66 million in the last month."

The inflow of remittances rose sharply as non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) are sending home more money for their relatives to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims which is likely to be celebrated in the country on August 12.

Remittances mainly came from Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan.

Bangladesh's remittances hit an all-time high of $16.40 billion in the last fiscal year (July 2018-June 2019).

Officials said the increase in total inflow of remittance in fiscal year 2018-19 were mainly due to boom in overseas employment in Middle East countries and devaluation of Bangladeshi currencies against the US dollar.

The inflow of remittances from some 10 million Bangladeshis, living and working in over 100 countries and regions in the 2017-2018 financial year amounted to $14.98 billion.