TDS Desk:

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have crossed US$27 billion as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided a $1.15 billion loan and other lenders provided  $900 million.

Talking to the media on Friday (June 28), Bangladesh Bank (BB) Executive Director and Spokesperson Mezbaul Haque informed that the final position of gross reserve as of 27.06.2024 is $27.15 billion.

“We have received $1.15 billion from the IMF. We also received around $900 million from other sources like South Korea, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and Islamic Development Bank (IDB),” he said.

On Monday (June 24), the IMF approved the third tranche concession under the $4.7 billion loan agreement for Bangladesh. Earlier, in February last year, Bangladesh received $47.63 million of the first installment of the IMF loan. And last December, $68.10 million of the second tranche was received.

Now, due to the third tranche, Bangladesh has received $2.31 billion from the IMF in three installments. The remaining $2.39 billion of the loan will be available in four more installments.

Bangladesh is under pressure with foreign exchange reserves since the COVID period. As the Russia-Ukraine war pushed up international prices of energy and other consumer goods, the reserves began to dwindle rapidly.

The reserve stood at $18.26 billion after paying $1.63 billion to the Asian Clearing Union-ACU last May, which was the lowest in the last decade. At that time, according to the IMF’s accounting system BPM 6, foreign exchange reserves decreased to $13.76 billion.