Staff Correspondent
The Coordination Council on Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate of the finance ministry is expected to meet at the end of this month to explore strategies for bringing stability in the country’s balance of payments to contain inflation and keep the exchange rate of taka at a reasonable level.
‘The council meeting will decide strategies for implementing the monetary policy recently announced by the central bank and harmonising it with government’s fiscal policy,’ said a senior official of the finance ministry on Thursday.
The official said the meeting also would examine the country’s current balance of payments situation, budget deficit and inflation.
The country’s balance of payments surplus slumped 68.5 per cent to $64 million in July-September 2008 compared with $203 million in the same period of the previous year, according to the central bank.
The monthly import payments dropped to $1.378 billion in December 2008 from $1.976 billion in October, official data reveals.
The export grew 27 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year from that in the same period of the previous fiscal year, despite the widespread fear about a fall in export income due to the ongoing global financial crisis.
At present, the country’s budget deficit is 2.2 per cent of the gross domestic product compared to the 4.9 per cent estimated in the budget. The low deficit is mainly thanks to a rise in remittances as well as exports.
The exchange rate of taka against US dollar is also stable, standing at Tk 68.40 to Tk 68.70 on Thursday.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the point to-point inflation was 6.12 per cent in November mainly due to the decline in the commodity and fuel prices on the global market.
The foreign exchange reserves stood at $5.30 billion last week.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith will chair the council meeting at the ministry, with commerce minister Faruk Khan, planning minister AK Khandokar, Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed, finance secretary Mohammed Tareq, National Board of Revenue chairman Abdul Mazid, and planning secretary Zafar Ahmed Chowdhury expected to be attending.
Finance ministry sources said the ministry sent a letter last week to the central bank asking it to prepare three papers – one on the current BoP situation, one on inflation, and the last on exchange rate of taka – to be tabled at the meeting.
The ministry also asked the Bangladesh Bank to send three experts on the above three subjects to the coordination council meeting.
The last meeting of the council was held in June 2008 before announcing the national budget by the interim government.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
