Bangladesh foreign exchange reserves rise to $33.11 billion

DHAKA: Bangladesh´s foreign exchange reserves rose to $33.11 billion at the end of April, $709 million more than one month earlier, the central bank said on Sunday. The reserves were nearly 2 percent higher than one year earlier. They are sufficient to cover about 10 months´ of imports for the country of 160 million people, according to the central bank. In March, the reserves declined about $970 million from the previous month. Steady garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas - the key drivers of the economy - have helped foreign exchange reserves grow steadily in recent years. Last month, the central bank cut the repo interest rate by 75 basis points to 6 percent, the first such move since January 2016, in a bid to help achieve the 7.4 percent economic growth target for the financial year that ends in June. Bangladesh´s economic growth hit a record 7.28 percent in the 2016-17 financial year, up from 7.11 percent one year earlier.