Bangladesh's forex reserves surge to record high

Dhaka, Dec 20 (IANS) Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves have soared past $42 billion amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the central bank's latest data revealed on Sunday.According to the provisional Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, the country's foreign exchange reserves stood at $42,094.90 million as of December 15 after reaching $41,269.02 million at the end of November, reports Xinhua news agency.According to BB's Forex Reserve and the Treasury Management Department data, this is the highest level of forex reserves Bangladesh has ever held.Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves crossed the $41 billion in October amid a slump in import bills due to the pandemic that made businesses also sluggish in Bangladesh.Experts said the current reserve level is good enough to support Bangladesh's resilience to external odds, as well as to maintain macroeconomic stability in light of the unabated Covid-19 outbreak.They said Bangladesh is in a position to pay more than 10 months' import bills with the existing reserves, which are also enough to help the central bank's efforts in keeping the foreign exchange market stable despite the economic impacts of the pandemic.According to health authorities, the country's overall coronavirus caseload has increased to 499,560, while the fatalities stood at 7,242.
--IANS ksk/