Gross foreign exchange reserve has dropped to $30.3 billion after the central bank cleared a payment of $1.5 billion to the Asian Clearing Union to settle import bills for July and August.
According to Bangladesh Bank, the foreign reserve dropped to the level on September 7 from $31.43 billion on September 3.
According to International Monetary Fund guidelines, Bangladesh鈥檚 reserves stood at $25.39 billion on September 7, down from $26.45 billion on September 3.
The ACU is a regional settlement arrangement through which participating countries 鈥� Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka 鈥� clear payments for intra-regional trade on a net multilateral basis via their central banks.
The payment is made in two months interval.
Bangladesh鈥檚 reserves had plunged to around $18 billion by the end of 2023 after three years of continuous dollar sales to stabilise the exchange rate.
However, the situation has improved since political changes in early August 2024.
The central bank has halted dollar sales and instead resumed purchases to counter depreciation pressures and maintain stability.
BB officials said that Bangladesh Bank bought about $1.13 billion from banks since June, including nearly $495 million in July alone.
The improvement in reserves is also supported by robust remittance inflows and stronger export earnings in recent months.
Since August 5, 2025, remittance inflow has averaged $2.5 billion per month.
In FY25, remittances through official channels surged to $30.3 billion, registering a 26.8 per cent increase, aided by a competitive exchange rate, government incentives, wider use of agent banking and mobile financial services, and tighter scrutiny of informal transfers.
Exports also gained during the same period, while import growth slowed to just 2.4 per cent in FY25.
Bangladesh Bank attributed this decline to tight monetary policy, disruptions at ports following strikes, liquidity constraints in banks limiting import financing, weaker business confidence, and reduced import LC openings as firms scaled back procurement.
The exchange rate of the US dollar has risen steadily in recent years. The rate climbed to Tk 123 in 2025, up from Tk 106 in June 2023, Tk 93.45 in June 2022, and Tk 84.81 in June 2021.
In a report released on Wednesday, the central bank said that pressure in the foreign exchange market had eased due to favourable developments in the balance of payments.
Bangladesh Bank calculates both gross international reserves (GIR) and net international reserves (NIR) under the IMF鈥檚 Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, sixth edition (BPM6), as part of its reserve reporting standards.
