Bangladesh received more than $3 billion in remittances in December, propelling the country’s foreign exchange reserves to a three-year high of $33 billion following continued US dollar purchases by the central bank.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, remittance inflows hit $3.04 billion within the first 29 days of the month.
The country’s forex reserve first exceeded $33 billion in 2017 and later peaked at $48 billion in 2021. However, the gross forex reserve had plummeted to about $26 billion at the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024.
Since then, remittance inflows have maintained a positive trend, culminating in the highest single-month collection of $3.29 billion in March.
As per central bank data, the total inward remittance stood at $30.33 billion in fiscal year 2024-25 while it was $23.91 billion in fiscal year 2023-24.
The rising remittance inflows have enabled the central bank to sustain its US dollar purchases from local banks.
Besides, the sanctioning of foreign loans, including $582 million from the Asian Development Bank and $18.44 million from the World Bank in the July-November period, contributed to strengthening the reserve.
On Tuesday, the gross forex reserve rose to $33.18 billion. However, when calculated under the BPM6 method of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the gross reserve stood at $28.51 billion.
That same day, the central bank purchased another $89 million from seven banks through auction at Tk122.30 per US dollar.
As a result, Bangladesh Bank’s total US dollar purchases in the first six months of the current fiscal year reached $3.13 billion, of which more than $1 billion came in December alone.
At a recent seminar, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur said the reserve is expected to reach up to $35 billion by the month’s end.
He added that the build-up would come from domestic US dollar purchases rather than borrowing from the IMF or other lending agencies, in what he touted as “the right approach”.
