Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur has stated that the country’s current account, a crucial element of its balance of payments, is maintaining a virtual balance following four months of the new government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus.
In an interview with the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) at the central bank headquarters, Dr Mansur highlighted the remarkable economic turnaround after significant challenges.
“There was a deficiency in the balance of payments, our reserve was falling, and our currency was depreciating rapidly. But after four months of the new government, I would say that we are maintaining a virtual balance in our current account. From largely negative to an acceptable balance, a sustainable deficit,” said Dr Mansur.
According to the latest data from Bangladesh Bank, the current account deficit has narrowed by 76.20 percent year-on-year to $752 million during the first four months of the fiscal year (July–October 2024). This marks a significant improvement compared to the $3.16 billion deficit recorded during the same period last year.
The governor attributed this improvement to a surge in remittance inflows, which have grown by more than 26 percent over the past five months. He also credited robust export growth as another factor in addressing the deficit.
“Despite the unrest, our export growth is currently over 15 percent. This is enabling us to reduce the arrears of foreign loans. This will help us solve other problems with the international creditor banks, which have counter-guaranteed our exports and imports,” Dr Mansur stated.
The latest figures from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) reveal that Bangladesh’s export earnings in November 2024 increased by 15.63 percent to $4.12 billion. This represents an increase of $560 million compared to November of the previous year’s $3.56 billion.
