$1.81 billion received in 16 days; reserves surpass $34 billion

ফাইল ছবি

News Desk: In the first 16 days of this February, Bangladesh received $1.807 billion in remittances from expatriates, which is 21 percent higher than the same period last year.

Meanwhile, due to the increase in remittance inflows, Bangladesh Bank has been purchasing dollars from commercial banks. As a result, the country’s total foreign exchange reserves have risen to $34.53 billion. Bangladesh Bank disclosed this information on Tuesday (February 17).

According to data from the central bank, remittance inflows from February 1 to 16, 2025, amounted to $1.49 billion. During the same period this year, the amount increased to $1.807 billion. On February 16 alone, $152 million was received. As a result, the total foreign exchange reserves held by Bangladesh Bank have risen to $34.53 billion. However, according to the IMF’s BPM6 calculation method, the reserve stands at $29.85 billion.

On February 7, the reserves were $34.06 billion, which was $29.47 billion under the IMF’s BPM6 calculation method at that time.

Ahead of the upcoming election, expatriates have been sending an average of $112.5 million per day this month. Remittance inflows have increased over the past two months in connection with the election. Earlier, in January of this year, remittances totaled $3.17 billion, while in December they amounted to $3.22 billion.

In the five months prior to that, remittance inflows were below $3 billion per month. Several bank officials noted that remittance inflows typically increase ahead of the two major Eid festivals. Recently, however, the rise has largely been driven by the upcoming election.