Before Election Dollar Rate Won't Be Market-Oriented: BB

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has said the official rate of dollars won’t be market-oriented ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. The central bank has cited three reasons behind this decision. They said three major economic indicators - the current account, financial account and revenue account - of the country have been showing negative trends.

The central bank argued the foreign reserve could dwindle further if the dollar exchange rate is left on the market to be fixed.

BB governor Abdur Rouf Talukder gave such directives during a meeting with the managing directors of 15 private banks on Wednesday (October 18).

According to the central bank, the country’s foreign reserve was USD 41.8 billion at the end of the 2021-22 fiscal, which dwindled to USD 26.84 billion as of 11 October. However, as per the calculation method of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the reserve stood at USD 21.07 billion. It has been learnt that the net reserve stands below USD 17 billion now.