Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have dipped below $20 billion once again after the country paid its import bill to the Asian Clearing Union, or ACU.

On Nov 10, $1.5bn was paid to the clearing house to clear the import dues for September and October, causing reserves to fall to $18.19 billion, according to the IMF’s BPM-6 methodology.

Hosne Ara Shikha, a Bangladesh Bank executive director and spokeswoman, confirmed the count to journalists.

On Sept 9, ACU was paid $1.36 billion for the July and August import bill.

Over three consecutive months, remittances exceeded $6 billion and export income $10 billion. As there was less pressure to open import LCs, banks had sufficient dollar reserves. As there were more than the necessary dollars on the market, the central bank bought dollars and increased its reserves.

When foreign loans come in, they are also added to reserves.

On Nov 7, after two months, reserves had risen past the $20 billion threshold. But now, after the ACU payment, it has fallen below it once again.

Bangladesh typically makes payments to the ACU every two months.