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Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve hits all-time high
Source: XINHUA | 2013-1-1 | ONLINE EDITION
DHAKA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve hit an all-time high of over 12.7 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2012 propelled by unfaltering growth in inflow of remittances and slump in import bills, officials and analysts said Tuesday.
A senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told Xinhua that foreign exchange reserve reached a record amount of 12,750.58 million U.S. dollars at the end of 2012.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve reached 9,634.85 million U.S. dollars at the end of 2011, said the official, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to talk to media.
The foreign exchange reserve has stayed above the 12-billion mark since October when it topped the level for the first time. The South Asian nation of about 153 million people needs a reserve of above 10 billion U.S. dollars to meet its import bills for three months, an international standard to maintain foreign currency reserve.
"Higher inflow of remittances have mainly driven Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve to set a new record," AFM Asaduzzaman, senior spokesman of BB, told Xinhua.
He said inflow of remittances from over 7 million non-resident Bangladeshis, living and working abroad, posted steady growth in the second half of last year.
According to BB data, Bangladeshis remitted home 6.11 billion U. S. dollars in July-November, over 24 percent higher than the same period a year ago.
Apart from remittances, the BB spokesman said the slump in food grain imports also contributed to the healthy reserve.
Bangladesh's rice import plunged 56.32 percent year-on-year to 283.8 million U.S. dollars during the first 10 months of last fiscal year (July 2011-June 2012), the BB data showed.
During July-April period, it showed the country's wheat import dropped by 52.46 percent to 433.2 million U.S. dollars.
Officials had said the big fall in import of rice and wheat was mainly due to good harvest of the staple food items in the country.
But some analysts say there are many other key causes leading to import decline. They say Bangladesh's imports, which usually hover around 20 to 40 percent growth, sank as the central bank has been pursuing a "contractionary" monetary policy to rein in inflation and maintain macroeconomic stability.
Official statistics showed the country's imports in the first four months of 2012-13 fiscal year plunged 4.07 percent from the same period of 2011-12 fiscal year, while year-on-year exports growth slowed to 2.58 percent in the same period.
"The deceleration of export points out the systemic problem embedded in the economy of Bangladesh with its concentration of few items, few destinations, which are hard hit by the global crises," Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, chairman of Unnayan Onneshan, a think-tank, told Xinhua.
He said this calls for making a structural shift from export orientation to expanding domestic demand.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve hits all-time high -- Shanghai Daily | ???? -- English Window to China New
Source: XINHUA | 2013-1-1 | ONLINE EDITION
DHAKA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve hit an all-time high of over 12.7 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2012 propelled by unfaltering growth in inflow of remittances and slump in import bills, officials and analysts said Tuesday.
A senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told Xinhua that foreign exchange reserve reached a record amount of 12,750.58 million U.S. dollars at the end of 2012.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve reached 9,634.85 million U.S. dollars at the end of 2011, said the official, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to talk to media.
The foreign exchange reserve has stayed above the 12-billion mark since October when it topped the level for the first time. The South Asian nation of about 153 million people needs a reserve of above 10 billion U.S. dollars to meet its import bills for three months, an international standard to maintain foreign currency reserve.
"Higher inflow of remittances have mainly driven Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve to set a new record," AFM Asaduzzaman, senior spokesman of BB, told Xinhua.
He said inflow of remittances from over 7 million non-resident Bangladeshis, living and working abroad, posted steady growth in the second half of last year.
According to BB data, Bangladeshis remitted home 6.11 billion U. S. dollars in July-November, over 24 percent higher than the same period a year ago.
Apart from remittances, the BB spokesman said the slump in food grain imports also contributed to the healthy reserve.
Bangladesh's rice import plunged 56.32 percent year-on-year to 283.8 million U.S. dollars during the first 10 months of last fiscal year (July 2011-June 2012), the BB data showed.
During July-April period, it showed the country's wheat import dropped by 52.46 percent to 433.2 million U.S. dollars.
Officials had said the big fall in import of rice and wheat was mainly due to good harvest of the staple food items in the country.
But some analysts say there are many other key causes leading to import decline. They say Bangladesh's imports, which usually hover around 20 to 40 percent growth, sank as the central bank has been pursuing a "contractionary" monetary policy to rein in inflation and maintain macroeconomic stability.
Official statistics showed the country's imports in the first four months of 2012-13 fiscal year plunged 4.07 percent from the same period of 2011-12 fiscal year, while year-on-year exports growth slowed to 2.58 percent in the same period.
"The deceleration of export points out the systemic problem embedded in the economy of Bangladesh with its concentration of few items, few destinations, which are hard hit by the global crises," Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, chairman of Unnayan Onneshan, a think-tank, told Xinhua.
He said this calls for making a structural shift from export orientation to expanding domestic demand.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve hits all-time high -- Shanghai Daily | ???? -- English Window to China New
