According to a report of the Bangladesh Bank, the country's reserve amount on 23 November stood at $19.52 billion as per the calculation based on the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payment Manual 6 (BPM6). However, the net foreign reserves has fallen below USD 16 billion, according to reports of local newspapers. 

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves have been depleting fast since the beginning of the year 2022 due to international turmoil. High import bill due to raised commodity prices on the internal market during Covid-19 period and subsequent war in Ukraine and also a slowdown in remittances have led to dearth of dollars in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Taka is continuously weakening against the US dollar due to dollar shortage. Bangladesh Bank releases dollars from its foreign reserve to stabilise Taka against USD and to settle imports bills. However, the rate remains volatile in the grey market too.

Navalsang Parmar/Akashwani News/Dhaka/28.11.2023