DHAKA, Sept. 22 -- The central bank of Bangladesh Thursday said the foreign exchange reserves of Bangladesh fell below 37 billion U.S. dollars -- the lowest since July 2020.

According to the provisional data from the Bangladesh Bank, the country's foreign exchange reserves stood at 36.85 billion dollars as of Wednesday after reaching 39.05 billion dollars at the end of the last month.

This is the lowest level of forex reserves Bangladesh has held since July 2020, an official of the bank's Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Department said on condition of anonymity.

The official said reserves slumped to a two-year low amid soaring import costs due to the Ukraine crisis that has dealt a major shock to commodity markets worldwide.

Bangladesh's forex reserves surpassed the 48-billion-dollar mark in August last year, the highest ever in history, due to a slowdown in imports and rising remittance and export earnings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its bid to boost shrinking forex reserves, the Bangladesh Bank has taken various measures in recent months, including relaxed rules, to woo more remittances from millions of Bangladeshi people living and working abroad.

As part of its latest measures to ease the strain on forex reserves, the bank last week paved the way for commercial banks in the country to maintain correspondent accounts in Yuan, the Chinese currency, to facilitate cross-border trade based on the Chinese currency.

  - Xinhua