The International Monetary Fund estimates that Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves will fall to $30 billion by the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year, bdnews24.com reports.
The forex reserve amount estimated by the IMF will be enough to cover the country’s import spending for about three and a half months.
The international lender’s projection came in a statement announcing its Executive Board’s decision to give $4.7 billion in loans to the country on Tuesday amid ongoing uncertainty in the global economy.
The Bangladesh government had previously announced a target of $37.7 billion in reserves by the end of the current fiscal year.
According to the IMF estimates, this would be the lowest level for Bangladesh’s forex reserves in the past three years. They had previously stood at $36 billion in FY20, $46.4 billion in FY21, and $33.4 billion in FY22.
However, the IMF believes Bangladesh’s reserves will bounce back in FY24 to an estimated $34.2 billion.
