Forex reserves rise to $31.31 billion

The country's gross foreign exchange reserves have climbed to $31.31 billion, the highest level in the past 28 months, according to the Bangladesh Bank data released on Sunday.

The last time reserves were near this level was in 2023, when they briefly reached $31.29 billion on 15 March.

In addition to the increase in gross reserves, reserves calculated using the IMF’s BPM6 accounting method have also risen to $26.33 billion, marking the highest level since the Bangladesh Bank began reporting data under this method in June 2023.

In June 2023, BPM6-compliant reserves stood at $24.75 billion, while gross reserves were $31.20 billion. In August 2021, Bangladesh hit a historic milestone by surpassing $48 billion in reserves for the first time.

However, reserves steadily declined from that peak and had fallen to $20.48 billion by the end of July 2023, just before the fall of the Awami League government. Since then, the reserves have been increasing again.

Experts attribute the rise in reserves mainly to strict controls on money laundering, which helped push remittance inflows past the $30 billion mark for the first time—with two days still remaining in the current fiscal year.

Additionally, the government has received around $5 billion in loans from various development partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB).