Forex reserves fall to $20b after clearing Nov-Dec ACU payment

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $20 billion – as per the BPM-6 guidelines of the International Monetary Fund – after clearing the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) payment for the period of November-December.

The Bangladesh Bank cleared a total of $1.67 billion payment to ACU for the said period, a senior central bank official told The Business Standard. 

As per Bangladesh Bank’s calculation method, the existing forex reserves stand at $24.9 billion. 

Bangladesh’s foreign trade with the ACU countries has grown by 11.33% in the November-December period, which indicates a positive trend for the stability of foreign currency in banks, bankers said.

Previously, Bangladesh paid a total of $1.5 billion to the ACU  for the period of September-October 2024, which dragged the forex reserves down to $18.46 billion as per the BPM guidelines.

Bangladesh usually clears the ACU payment in every two months. 

The ACU is a Tehran-based institution for settling payments among nine countries — India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.