Dhaka: Halting a prolonged decline, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves reached over $21bn by the end of December 2024, the latest central bank data showed.
The Bangladesh Bank reported that the country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $21.359bn on December 31, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculation method. In comparison, the reserves were $18.61bn at the end of November.
For a growing economy like Bangladesh, forex reserves equivalent to six months’ import bills are considered adequate.
With the existing reserves, however, central bank officials said Bangladesh is in a position to pay nearly four months’ import bills.
Bangladesh’s gross foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of $48bn in August 2021.
In a bid to boost shrinking forex reserves, the central bank has taken various measures including incentives to woo more remittances from millions of Bangladeshi people living and working abroad in recent years.
The country’s remittances, one of the key sources of foreign exchange, totaled $13.78bn in the July-December period, official data showed.
