Cenbank eases foreign currency retention rules for specialised zone exporters
Full export proceeds can now be kept in FC settlement pool
The Bangladesh Bank has eased foreign currency retention rules for "Type B" and "Type C" industrial enterprises operating in specialised economic zones — including Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Private EPZs (PEPZs), Economic Zones (EZs) and High-Tech Parks (HTPs).
In a circular issued today, the central bank aligned the retention facilities of specialised zone exporters with those of non-specialised ones, removing earlier restrictions that reportedly created operational complexities.
Under the revised policy, banks can now allow zone enterprises to keep export proceeds in a back-to-back settlement pool in foreign currency (FC) until back-to-back import payments are made.
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The retained amount may include both the back-to-back import settlement portion, and the local value-added portion. The latter can be held for up to 30 days to meet admissible FC obligations. Within this period, unutilised funds can be transferred to other banks to settle import liabilities of exporters or their subsidiaries/sister concerns in specialised zones.
After 30 days, any unused funds will be encashed into taka, with at least 20% [25% for the garments sector] of total repatriation converted before crediting the remaining balances to exporters' FC accounts.
Exporters operating without back-to-back arrangements can also retain proceeds in FC for up to 30 days for permissible uses, including transfers to other banks for import payments of related enterprises in specialised zones. Any remaining balance after this period can be moved to exporters' FC accounts, subject to the same encashment rules.
Industry insiders say that the move will ensure regulatory parity between specialised and non-specialised zones, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen foreign currency liquidity management.
