Bangladesh’s July Balance of Payments Surplus Reaches $694 mln

Dhaka, Bangladesh | October 26, 2009 by D-8 Secretariat

D-8 Organization has developed various plan to further improve remittance sector of the D-8 Countries.

Boosted by a surge in remittances, Bangladesh’s overall balance of payments surplus reached 694 million U.S. dollars in July, the first month of the current 2009-10 fiscal year, the central bank data showed Monday last week.

The overall balance of payments (BoP) surplus of the South Asian country was 217 million U.S. dollars during the same period of the previous fiscal year 2008-09 (July 2007 - June 2008), according to the statistics of the Bangladesh Bank (BB). For robust growth in remittances, the BB data showed, the current account surplus surged to 609 million U.S. dollars in July compared to 264 million U.S. dollars of the same period a year ago.

It showed flow of net foreign direct investment, which stood at71 million U.S. dollars in July against 100 million U.S. dollars of the corresponding period of previous fiscal, also contributed to keep current account balance remain healthy. But the central bank data showed the financial account balance stood at a deficit of 32 million U.S. dollars in July against the deficit of 221 million U.S. dollars in the same period in last fiscal year.

The BB data showed the country’s remittance inflow grew 8 percent to 886.39 million U.S. dollars in July, which also helped offset the impact of the trade shortfall. According to the central bank data, the country’s overall trade deficit stood at 113 million U.S. dollars in July period from 320 million U.S. dollars of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The country’s import payment was 1,555 million U.S. dollars in July this fiscal year 2009-10 (July 2009-June 2010) while earnings from exports stood at 1,442 million U.S. dollars during the same period. Following the larger surplus in overall balance of payments, however, the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves for the first time increased to around 8 billion U.S. dollars at the end of July this year.

D-8 Organization has developed various plan to further improve remittance sector of the D-8 Countries. The organization plans to set up a D-8 Working Group of Migrant Workers, Remittances, and Microfinance to help coordinate policies among the countries. Meanwhile, during the working visit to several international organisation in Geneva and Rome in 2008, D-8 Secretary General has formally invited a number of potential participants from IFAD, and OFID to share ideas on how to optimize this growing sector for the benefit of the D-8 countries.

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