Country’s current account deficit crosses $6.0 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY18).
Latest statistics, released by Bangladesh Bank, showed that current account deficit stood at $6.31 billion in July-February period of FY18.
Current account registered a negative balance worth $0.96 million in the same period of the past fiscal year.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the current account can be expressed as the difference between the value of exports of goods and services and the value of imports of goods and services.
Therefore, a deficit means that the country is importing more goods and services than it is exporting. But the current account also includes net income and transfers from abroad (such as foreign aid), which are usually a small fraction of the total.
Current account deficit ordinarily reflects that the country has to finance its regular transactions with the rest of the world by borrowing. It also creates huge pressure on the foreign exchange reserve.
Foreign exchange reserve is, however, still at a comfortable level. It stood at $32.97 billion by the end of this week, according to the central bank data.