DHAKA: Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves rose to a record $18.07 billion at the end of December from $17.11 billion in November, the central bank said on Wednesday, thanks to rising garment exports.
The reserves are enough to cover six months of imports, and were up from $12.75 billion a year earlier. Rising exports, a slow pace of imports and steady remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas have helped build reserves, the central bank said.
Bangladesh's exports from July to November, the first five months of the financial year, rose an annual 18 percent to $11.96 billion, boosted by stronger clothing sales, figures from an export body showed last month.
However, the $22 billion garment export industry, which supplies many Western brands, has come under scrutiny after a string of incidents, including the collapse of a building housing factories in April 2013 that killed more than 1,130 people.
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