Bangladesh Begins New Year with $33 Billion in Reserves

Bangladesh has started the new year with a foreign exchange reserve of $33 billion, marking a significant improvement from the previous year. In 2025, the reserves saw an increase of over $8 billion, the largest increase ever recorded. Remittances from expatriates played a major role in this growth, alongside a decrease in import-related letters of credit, which contributed about $3.5 billion to the reserve.

Expatriates, despite being far from home during critical times like education expenses and Ramadan, have continued to send money to support their families in Bangladesh. In December alone, remittances sent by Bangladeshis abroad exceeded $3 billion, up from $2.63 billion during the same period the previous year—a growth of more than 21%. For the first half of the fiscal year 2025-26, remittance growth stands at around 18%.

At the start of 2025, Bangladesh’s reserves were $21.67 billion, but by the year’s end, they had increased to $33.18 billion. According to the IMF's BPM-6 methodology, reserves have crossed $28 billion. To further boost remittance flows in the new year, the Bangladesh Central Bank plans to reduce the complexities of sending money abroad, making the process faster and more convenient for expatriates.

The country has also experienced a decrease in import pressure, with the central bank withdrawing approximately $3.5 billion from banks in the first six months of the fiscal year and injecting an equivalent amount into the market.