Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves took a hit, falling below $22 billion as the central bank settled import bills worth $1.36 billion via the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).

Following this payment adjustment, the gross forex reserves, according to the IMF manual, now stand at approximately $21.70 billion, as confirmed by a senior central bank official who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) completed this payment transaction on Thursday. Before this settlement, the forex reserve amounted to roughly $23 billion.

On the same day, the BB also sold $75 million to banks from the reserve. According to the central bank’s calculations, the forex reserve reached $27.61 billion after the ACU payment.

Starting on July 13, the BB adopted a new practice of reporting foreign currency reserves in line with the manual. This change aims to ensure accurate reporting of the country’s dollar stockpile.

BPM6, gross foreign reserves encompass gold, cash US dollars, bonds, treasury bills, reserve positions in the IMF, and special drawing rights holdings – a form of international currency created by the IMF, representing a weighted average of various convertible currencies.

Previously, the central bank’s gross reserves computation included additional components, resulting in significantly higher reported figures.