BB sells $11.67bn to banks in 10 months of FY24

The Bangladesh Bank sold $11.67 billion from its forex reserves to banks in less than 10 months of the ongoing FY24 amid a severe dollar crisis faced by the country’s banks.

According to Bangladesh Bank data, the central bank sold $6.7 billion to banks in July-December, the first six months of FY24, and the sales crossed $11 billion on April 22.

This significant dollar intervention has put pressures on the country’s forex reserves, which, in accordance with International Monetary Fund guidelines, dropped to $19.89 billion on April 17.

The reserves stood at $41.8 billion on June 2022 and $46.2 billion in September 2021.

Over the past 34 months, the Bangladesh Bank has sold approximately $32.79 billion, including $13.5 billion in FY23 and $7.62 billion in FY22, from its foreign exchange reserves to banks.

The amount of excess liquidity in the country’s banking sector plunged to Tk154,000 crore at the end of January 2024 compared with that of Tk160,000 crore in December 2023 and Tk203,000 crore in June 2022.

Settling high import payments was the main reason for the depletion of the foreign exchange reserve, central bank officials said.

The situation was further compounded by a sluggish growth in remittances and export earnings.

Since April 2022, the government and the Bangladesh Bank have implemented a series of initiatives to curb a significant growth of imports.

In the first eight months of FY24, the country’s import payments declined by 15.36% to $40.88 billion compared with those of $48.3 billion in the same period in the previous year.

The current dollar shortage has already forced the government to secure $4.7 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund over a period of three years.

The Bangladesh Bank has adopted a market-based and unified exchange rate regime, allowing the exchange rate to be determined by market forces.

Besides, the BB has also decided to compile and publish gross international reserve in line with the BPM6 (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 6th edition).

Currently, the BB is selling dollars at Tk110 a dollar, which is also the inter-bank dollar rate.

However, many banks are collecting remittances at rates as high as Tk118 each to meet their demand, despite the rate being set at Tk110 each by the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association.