Bangladesh is set to make its highest Asian Clearing Union (ACU) import payment in three years, with around US$2.02 billion due for imports made during May and June.

Arif Hossain Khan, Executive Director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told UNB that the ACU bills are scheduled to be cleared by July 8.

The record payment is expected to reduce the country’s gross foreign exchange reserves to approximately $29.66 billion from the current $31.68 billion.

Arif Hossain said while such payments do not affect the Net International Reserves (NIR) which currently stand at $20.69 billion.

Net reserves are calculated after paying ACU and other external bills, he added.

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Net reserves can change if the central bank sells dollars from reserves or if the government makes payments for foreign investments or projects, the central bank spokesperson said.

According to Bangladesh Bank data, the bi-monthly ACU payments had remained below $1.3 billion throughout 2023. Payments started to rise from September-October 2024, culminating in the latest May-June bill of $2.02 billion—the highest since 2021.

The final reserve figures will be confirmed after the ACU settlement and reconciliation of accounts next week, the central bank said.

The ACU, headquartered in Tehran, facilitates payments for intra-regional trade among its member countries, including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives.