Bangladesh’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Rise to $21.40 Billion

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have increased, driven by export earnings and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas. As of March 6, the country’s reserves stand at $21.40 billion, up from $20.90 billion recorded on February 27, according to the latest data from Bangladesh Bank.

Bangladesh Bank’s report highlights two key reserve figures based on different accounting standards:

• Gross Reserves: By the central bank’s own methodology, the gross reserve on March 6 was $26.60 billion.
• IMF-Standard Reserves (BPM6): Under the International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments Manual-6 (BPM6), the official reserve stands at $21.40 billion.

For comparison, as of February 27, the gross reserve was $26.13 billion, while the BPM6 reserve was $20.90 billion.

Apart from these figures, Bangladesh Bank maintains an internal calculation for usable reserves, which is disclosed only to the IMF. This figure excludes Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings, foreign currency clearing accounts, and the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) payments. The central bank estimates that the country’s usable reserves are slightly above $15 billion.

According to global standards, a country should maintain reserves sufficient to cover at least three months of import expenses. Bangladesh currently meets this threshold.

The increase in reserves has been supported by robust remittance inflows and export earnings:

• In February 2025, Bangladesh received $2.53 billion in remittances.
• Export earnings for the same month totaled nearly $3.97 billion, reflecting a 2.77% increase compared to February 2024.