Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserve again crossed the $ 15-billion mark, totaling $ 15,291.74 million as of 26 June this year, up from $ 14,531.42 million on 30 May.
The forex reserve also witnessed a hefty increase of $ 5,172.71 million from the $ 10,119.03 million registered on 26 June last year, according to statistics released by the Bangladesh Bank on Thursday.
Data on taka-dollar exchange rate showed that the taka appreciated slightly, trading at Tk 77.7503 against the dollar on 26 June this year against Tk 77.7504 on 30 May.
According to the central bank statistics, revenue collection by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) during the July-April period of the current fiscal marked an encouraging 16.09 percent growth to Tk 83,031.03 crore.
Remittances from the Bangladeshi wage earners abroad stood at $ 13,395.10 million during the July-May period of the current fiscal (2012-13), a growth of 13.78 percent over $ 11,772.57 million during the corresponding period of the last fiscal (2011-12).
The statistics available from the Bangladesh Bank on Thursday (27 June) showed that the country’s remittances maintained a negative trend in May this year with a 6.69 percent fall to fetch $ 1,079.39 million compared to $ 1,156.82 million in May last year.
The current account balance is in an advantageous position – $ 2,161 million for the July-April period of the current fiscal year.
Buoyed by the moderate performances of the RMG, leather and leather products, and agricultural products, exports maintained a growth of 10.67 percent during the July-May period, totaling $ 24,321.90 million. The imports amounted to $ 28,172.40 million during the July-April period having a fall of 5.63 percent.
The central bank statistics also showed that during the period of July-April, L/Cs worth $ 29,928.41 million for food grains, capital machinery, petroleum, industrial raw materials were opened, while L/Cs worth $ 26,780.77 million were settled.
Statistics on agricultural credit disbursement showed that about 91.97 percent of the target was achieved during the July-May period as disbursement was Tk 12,995.22 crore while the recovery was Tk 12,557.02 crore.
