Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Reserves Stand at $36.45 Billion

Bangladesh’s official gross foreign exchange reserves have reached $36.45 billion (36,457.02 million US dollars), reflecting the latest financial standing of the country’s central monetary authority.

Arif Hossain Khan, Executive Director and Spokesperson for Bangladesh Bank, confirmed the updated figures on Tuesday, 28 July. He detailed that as of Tuesday, the gross international reserves held by the central bank totalled $36,457.02 million. However, when measured using the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM-6) accounting framework, the usable gross reserves stood at $31,748.50 million ($31.75 billion).

The updated total indicates a slight contraction compared to figures recorded earlier in the month. As of Thursday, 23 July, the nation’s gross foreign exchange holdings stood at $36,481.06 million, while the corresponding figure under the IMF’s BPM-6 standard was $31,784.85 million.

The dual method of accounting reflects a major policy transition adopted by Bangladesh Bank to align its financial reporting with international auditing standards. Under traditional gross calculation methods, central banks include various illiquid assets, such as foreign currency loans extended to domestic projects, export development funds, and deposits with foreign banks. In contrast, the IMF’s BPM-6 methodology measures readily available, liquid foreign assets by deducting short-term foreign currency liabilities and encumbered holdings from gross reserves. Net reserves represent the actual liquid buffers available to meet immediate external obligations, calculated after deducting all outstanding short-term liabilities.

Maintaining healthy foreign exchange reserves remains vital for Bangladesh’s macroeconomic stability, serving as a buffer to cover essential import bills—including critical energy supplies, industrial raw materials, and staple foods—while stabilizing the domestic currency against international exchange rate volatility. In recent years, Bangladesh Bank has prioritised transparent reporting mechanisms in response to broader economic reforms agreed upon with international lending institutions, such as the IMF, as part of national balance-of-payments support programmes.

Central bank officials continue to monitor liquidity flows closely, with external trade balances, overseas worker remittances, export earnings, and multilateral debt servicing playing pivotal roles in dictating the trajectory of the nation’s reserve buffers. While recent figures reflect slight short-term fluctuations, central bank authorities maintain that existing reserve levels remain sufficient to meet standard statutory import coverage requirements and sustain macroeconomic confidence across the financial sector.