Bangladesh Bank instructs not to deal directly with ACU countries

The central bank has instructed not to conduct direct transactions with the member countries of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU). Transactions with these countries are to be conducted only through Bangladesh Bank.

Bangladesh Bank issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday.

The Asian Clearing Union is an interregional transaction settlement system between several central banks. Through this, transactions are settled every two months against the imports and exports of nine Asian countries. However, Bangladesh’s transactions with other countries were completed immediately.

The member countries of ACU are Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan and Maldives. However, Sri Lanka was recently dropped from the list due to failure to repay the loan.

The central banks of ACU countries have to pay the transaction every two months. Among these countries, India earns more dollars from exporting goods to other countries than it pays for imports. Most other countries have to spend extra dollars compared to income.

It has been learned that although ACU is a member country, the country’s banks are conducting many transactions directly with India. This often increases the pressure on Bangladesh’s foreign currency. To reduce this pressure, all transactions have been instructed to be conducted through ACU.