DHAKA, May 22, 2022 (BSS) - The country's foreign-exchange reserves today
increased to US$42.30 billion, as it was at US$41.92 billion on May 10, which
enough to cover import of six months.

"Recently, the reserve of foreign-exchange was slight dip below the US$42
billion mark, but after that, the reserve was crossed US$42 billion again and
today it is US$42.30 billion," said General Manager of the Forex Reserve and
Treasury Management Department Saiful Islam while talking to BSS.

Bangladesh had a record US$48.02 billion foreign-exchange reserve in August
last year, sufficient to pay import bills for up to one year, but a steady
decline has brought it down to the current level.

Due to the Covid-19 impact and the Russia-Ukraine war, costs of product
supply and delivery go up. As a result, Taka, the currency of Bangladesh,
began losing its value like many other currencies in the world for raising
the demand of US dollars.

So, the higher dollar expenditure for imports and other necessities is
putting pressure on the foreign exchange reserves.

To resolve the decrease, the government has taken several measures- like
putting a bar on civil servants' foreign tours and pausing the development of
projects that require a large number of imported materials.

Saiful Islam welcomed the government measures and informed that the benefit
of the measures will come in long term.