The country’s foreign exchange reserve on Tuesday crossed the $15-billion mark for the first time due mainly to the Bangladesh Bank’s dollar buying spree, slump in imports in the first nine months of this financial year and increased inflow of remittance, said official of the central bank.
A BB official said that the foreign exchange reserve had stood at $15.069 billion on Tuesday from $14.936 billion on Monday.
The BB purchased dollars worth more than $4 billion from the commercial banks in this financial year with a view to stopping devaluation of the greenback against the local currency taka which played a significant role in crossing the $15-billion mark of the foreign exchange reserve, he said.
According to the BB record book, the central bank has already bought the highest amount of dollar this fiscal year since the FY 2004-05.
It is not possible to collect the data beyond the FY 2004-05 as the information are not available in the BB record book.
Before the FY 2012-13, the BB purchased the highest amount of greenback worth $2.16 billion in the FY 2009-10, the BB data showed.
The official said that a negative import growth in the first nine months of the FY 2012-13 had also played a significant role in crossing $15 billion mark of the country’s foreign exchange reserve.
The import bill payment in July-March of the FY 2012-13 posted a negative growth of 10.40 per cent compared with that of 14.60 per cent growth during the corresponding period of the FY 2011-12, the BB data showed.
The settlement of letters of credit or import bill payment in July-March of the FY 2012-13 stood at $23.98 billion against that of $26.77 billion in the same period of the FY 2011-12.
The import of capital machinery and industrial raw materials declined significantly due to the ongoing political turmoil which ultimately played a major role in decreasing the overall import payment, he said.
Under the circumstances, the negative import growth in the period allowed the country to save foreign currency, he said.
Besides, the remittance inflow increased by 15.89 per cent to $12.30 billion in the first 10 months of the FY 2012-13 compared with that of the same period a financial year ago.
-With New Age input
