Don’t let forex reserve go below $15b until elections: Ahsan H Mansur

Bangladesh should not allow its foreign currency reserve fall below the $15 billion-mark at any cost until the next parliamentary election, which is likely to be held in early January next year, economist Ahsan H Mansur said today.

"Right now, we have to take a short-term plan to maintain the level of foreign currency reserve," said the executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh must explore all possible options, including getting the second instalment of loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), support from the World Bank and other bilateral sources, to save the reserve, he said.

Mansur said the country has an election ahead and this is not a normal one as many uncertainties might erupt centring the polls in the days to come.

He made the comments while addressing a seminar on "Fiscal challenges in South Asia" organised by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem) at Brac Centre Inn in Dhaka.

Franziska Lieselotte Ohnsorge, chief economist for South Asia at the World Bank, presented a keynote paper while Sanem Executive Director Prof Selim Raihan moderated the event.

According to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bank, the country's foreign reserve stood at $21.05 billion.

Earlier, Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist of the World Bank's Dhaka office, said the net reserve would be less than $18 billion if the central bank's liabilities are considered.