DHAKA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves reached nearly 21 billion U.S. dollars by the end of September, the latest central bank data showed.

The Bangladesh Bank data showed the country's foreign exchange reserves stood at 20,795.44 million dollars on Sept. 30, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculation method.

The bank said gross reserves were 24.74 billion dollars by the end of September. The reserves calculated under the IMF's balance of payments and investment position manual method were immediately usable, while gross reserves were also usable subject to the realization of investment.

For a growing economy like Bangladesh, forex reserves equivalent to six months' import bills are considered adequate.

With the existing reserves, however, central bank officials said Bangladesh is in a position to pay nearly four months' import bills.

Bangladesh's gross foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of 48 billion dollars in August 2021.

In a bid to boost shrinking forex reserves, the central bank has taken various measures, including relaxed rules, to woo more remittances from millions of Bangladeshi people living and working abroad in recent years.

After remittances hit 1.91 billion dollars in July and 2.22 billion dollars in August, the figure of last month stood at 2.40 billion dollars, up over 80 percent from a year earlier, official data showed. Enditem

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