Planning minister: Public being fed misinformation about forex reserves

The countrymen are being fed misinformation about forex reserves by a group of people, Planning Minister MA Mannan has said.

“Although the forex reserves decreased for some time previously, it has started to increase due to remittances sent by Bangladeshi expatriates,” he said at a program held in Sunamganj on Saturday.

During the BNP period in 2009, the reserve was $5 billion but under the Awami League government, it had reached $48 billion, he added.

Assuring countrymen that there is no reason to fear about the forex reserves, the minister said the situation will improve as dollar prices have started to dip in the world market again.

File photo of Planning Minister MA Mannan Collected

The supply of dollars has increased in the market due to a surge in remittances as well as a decrease in import costs, resulting in the taka making a regular gain against the greenback.

The dollar was selling for Tk120 in the kerb market last week.

However, it saw a big drop and was selling for Tk110 and Tk111 on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, thanks to some timely measures taken by Bangladesh Bank.

Several money exchange officials said that they were buying dollars for Tk110 and selling for Tk112. However, commercial banks are selling dollars for Tk106 to Tk108.