Foreign reserves fall below 34 billion dollars after ACU bill payment

Staff Report: PNN

Bangladesh Bank has paid 151 million US dollars for import bills of March and April under the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism. After this large payment, the country’s gross foreign exchange reserves have again fallen below 34 billion dollars.

Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan confirmed the matter on Thursday. He said that member countries settle import-export transactions through ACU every two months.

According to central bank data, as of May 6, the gross foreign exchange reserves stood at 35.34 billion dollars. Under the IMF BPM-6 accounting method, reserves were 30.67 billion dollars during the same period.

However, after ACU payment, gross reserves dropped to around 33.80 billion dollars. At the same time, under BPM-6, reserves declined to around 29.12 billion dollars.

Bangladesh Bank officials say that despite the decline, the situation remains under control. The net international reserves are currently around 27 billion dollars, which is sufficient to cover about five months of import expenses.

Analysts say that according to international standards, reserves equivalent to at least three months of import payments are considered safe. By that measure, Bangladesh is still in a relatively comfortable position.

It is noted that the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) is a regional payment arrangement for settling trade transactions among member countries. Its headquarters is in Tehran, Iran. Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Iran, Myanmar, and several other countries are members of this system. Sri Lanka’s membership has been temporarily suspended due to failure to meet conditions amid economic crisis.