BM Desk: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised the increase in Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves achieved through the initiatives of Bangladesh Bank, describing it as commendable. The organization also said that it would evaluate whether the processes followed by Bangladesh Bank are consistent with the country’s exchange rate management system.

At a press conference organized by the IMF in Hong Kong on Friday (September 24), Thomas Helbling, Deputy Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, made these remarks to journalists.

During the press conference, which focused on economic developments in the Asia-Pacific region, Deputy Director Helbling said that an IMF team will visit Bangladesh later this month. During the visit, the team will conduct the fifth review of the ongoing USD 5.5 billion loan program with Bangladesh.

Helbling stated that one of the key objectives of the IMF-supported program was to increase foreign exchange reserves. In line with that goal, Bangladesh’s reserves have risen despite a persistent current account deficit. He noted that boosting reserves to reduce external sector vulnerabilities is a core target of the loan program. Therefore, the success of Bangladesh Bank in increasing reserves is commendable.

According to IMF data, as of October 16, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 27.35 billion — up from USD 19.93 billion a year earlier. This increase resulted from higher foreign currency inflows, relatively lower expenditure, and Bangladesh Bank’s dollar purchases from the market.

Since the second half of 2021, Bangladesh Bank had been under pressure due to declining reserves caused by rising imports. From that time until the 2024–25 fiscal year, the central bank sold more than USD 25 billion from its reserves. After maintaining a crawling peg exchange rate system (allowing limited fluctuation) for over a year, Bangladesh Bank introduced flexibility in the exchange rate regime in May 2025.

According to Bangladesh Bank sources, the value of the taka has depreciated by as much as 43 percent since the 2020–21 fiscal year. Since the beginning of the current fiscal year, foreign currency inflows  particularly from remittances and export earnings — have increased, prompting Bangladesh Bank to purchase USD 2.12 billion from the market.