Banks asked to enter LC info into Cenbank’s dashboard within 8hrs
At the same time, banks should also enter data on foreign currency payment of import or proceeds of export products to the dashboard within eight hours of receiving them, reads a circular issued by the central bank today (31 July).
The Bangladesh Bank has directed banks to enter information on the opening and receipt of letters of credit (LC) for imports and exports, respectively, into the central bank's Foreign Exchange Transaction Monitoring Dashboard within eight hours.
"Due to incorrect and delayed reporting of import and export data by banks, various problems are arising in Bangladesh Bank's balance of payments calculation, monetary policy formulation, and its implementation," says the circular.
After correcting discrepancies in the export data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the central bank reported that Bangladesh's exports fell by 4.28% during July-May of FY24 compared to the previous year.
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According to EPB data, exports for the first 11 months of FY24 were initially reported at $51.54 billion. However, the Bangladesh Bank revised this figure to $40.72 billion, indicating a shortfall of $10.82 billion.
Earlier in 2018, the central bank issued a circular directing banks to regularly report foreign exchange transaction information in the Online Foreign Exchange Transaction Monitoring and Management System (Foreign Exchange Dashboard).
However, many banks failed to report on time due to a lack of reference time.
The central bank's circular issued yesterday also stipulates that accurate and complete information must be provided in the prescribed templates of various dashboard modules.
Additionally, an effective supervision system should be developed through the relevant department at each bank's head office to oversee reporting on the dashboard.
