Ahsan H. Mansur, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, revealed that since August 14, 2024, not a single dollar has been sold by Bangladesh Bank. He made this statement during a program titled “365 Days of the Interim Government,” organized by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at a hotel in Gulshan, Dhaka.
The event was chaired by CPD’s honorable fellow Professor Mostafizur Rahman. CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun presented the main speech at the beginning of the program.
No Blockage of Lines of Credit from Foreign Banks
Governor Mansur said that despite the challenges in the macroeconomy, foreign banks have not blocked lines of credit (LC) to Bangladesh. Instead, these facilities have been maintained as needed, which has helped stabilize the country’s economy.
“At the first meeting with international bankers, more than 200 foreign banks had stopped lines of credit. We told them to stop there and not to do it again. If we don’t improve, then they can. We have never delayed payments, nor will we.”
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He further explained that there had been a backlog of $2.5 billion in payments, but they committed to paying it back gradually. Thanks to improved remittances and exports, every bank was told to ensure payments regardless of the company involved, whether it was S. Alam or Beximco. Now, many foreign banks have returned to their earlier support levels, with some even increasing lines of credit.
Stable Exchange Rate to Control Inflation
The Governor highlighted that keeping the exchange rate stable is crucial to reduce inflation.
“We understood that to reduce inflation, the exchange rate must be stable. There was a policy that we would not sell even one dollar. Since August 14 last year, not a single dollar has been sold.”
He added that initially, there was some ethical pressure.
“At first, we had to apply some ethical pressure. Dubai-based aggregators were told if they don’t come to our set rate, no dollars will be bought from them. Our rate is 122 taka, and sales must be at this rate. They can hold dollars if they want, and we have no problem with that, because we know they can’t hold for more than five to seven days.”
Source: TBS
