On Monday night, Bangladesh Bank’s spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan announced that:
- The country’s gross foreign exchange reserves now stand at 25.44 billion US dollars.
This is the total amount the central bank holds before applying any international reporting standards.
IMF Standard Shows Lower Reserve Figure
However, according to the International Monetary Fund’s guidelines (called BPM6 – Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual):
- Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves are reported as 20.07 billion US dollars.
This lower number follows IMF rules, which exclude certain assets and unavailable funds from the reserve count.
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Breakdown According to IMF’s BPM6 Method
- Reserve under BPM6: 20.07 billion USD
- Of this, the actual usable reserve is only about 16 billion USD.
This usable component is the amount that Bangladesh can immediately spend, if needed.
Comparing Historical Reserve Data
Let’s look at data from earlier this month and contrast it with the reserves as of right now:
On May 7, 2025:
- IMF-style reserve: 20.29 billion USD
- Gross reserve (Bangladesh Bank’s figure): 25.67 billion USD
This shows a slight decline in both gross and BPM6-style reserves within a span of less than two weeks.
The cause of the reserve drop
One of the main causes of the current decline:
- After Bangladesh paid the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) 1.88 billion USD, the reserve was lowered.
Asian countries collect their trade payments through the ACU, a regional payment system.
Source: Daily Jugantor
