Forex reserves rise to $33.2 b by Dec-end

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $33.23 billion by the end of December, $630 million more than the previous month, the central bank said on Monday.

The reserves were up nearly 3.4 percent from a year earlier, and are sufficient to cover about 10 months’ worth of imports for the country of 160 million people.

Steady garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas – the key drivers of the country’s more-than $250 billion economy – have helped foreign exchange reserves grow steadily in recent years.

Bangladesh’s economic growth hit a record 7.28 percent in the financial year ending June 2017, up from 7.11 percent the previous year.

– Reuters