Bangladesh’s rising forex reserves is a ‘pleasant problem’

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman says the foreign exchange reserves crossing the $27 billion mark is a ‘pleasant problem’.“Many countries face deficit. But we are in a nice problem…a problem of surplus. It’s very pleasing news,” he said. The foreign exchange reserves of Bangladesh Bank swelled to Tk 27.06 billion on Thursday.
The amount was $22.27 billion on the same day last year, which means the reserve rose by 21.5 percent.
The central bank said it would be possible to foot import bills for over eight months with the reserves.Rahman said the increase was a sign of Bangladesh’s economic empowerment.Many economists, however, are not happy with the reserves, as the country “cannot use them in production”.Former finance advisor to a caretaker government AB Mirza Azizul Islam recently told bdnews24.com: “It (the reserves) is not of any use to production. Is it profitable to have anything useless?”The Bangladesh Bank says the foreign currency reserves are increasing because of growing inflow of remittance and a drop in global oil prices.The central bank also said its initiatives to keep Taka stable against US Dollar, expand Export Development Fund, and give export incentives contributed to the reserves.