Bangladesh's forex reserves stand at $17.20 billion, fall short of even relaxed IMF targets in 2023
FirstpostAt the close of December 2023, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 17.20 billion, falling short of the International Monetary Fund’s adjusted target of a minimum of USD 17.78 billion. The IMF had initially approved a USD 4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh in January last year, establishing a minimum Forex Reserve, also known as the Net International Reserve, of USD 26.81 billion by the end of December 2023. The Dhaka Tribune newspaper said, Even though most of the country’s banks are in a dollar crunch, Bangladesh Bank has collected dollars from various banks to maintain reserves as per IMF conditions. In addition to import control, Bangladesh Bank has succeeded in preserving reserves as a result of multi-faceted activities to encourage a sending of remittances through banking channels, continued growth of export income, and quick loan disbursement from the IMF, it said even as it maintained that the IMF target was USD 17.48, which the country’s central bank exceeded.