Forex reserve started shrinking long before the Russia-Ukraine war: GM Quader

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader has claimed that the country's foreign reserve started to deplete six-seven months prior to the start of Russia-Ukraine war in February, therefore, economic recession in the country was inevitable regardless of the global crisis.

"Russia-Ukraine war is one of the reasons for the present economic downturn, although, it was unavoidable even if there was no war.  In that case, the recession might have taken some time but it was bound to happen," he said while speaking at the 20th session of 11th parliament on Sunday (6 October).

"Bangladesh Bank says that the country's reserve is $35.85 billion while according to IMF the reserves amount to $27.35 billion," he said adding that the reserve depletion rate increased after the war began.

Mentioning the foreign exchange crisis as a major one, GM Quader observed that the reserve situation will not get better even though IMF approves the $4.5 billion loan sought by the government.

"Some ambitious projects are to blame for this situation," he alleged noting that the precise feasibility of these projects was not verified. Moreover, the implementation time and cost continued to extend repeatedly, he added.

Jatiya Party chairman, at the time, called on the government to explain how they plan to tackle the oncoming economic crisis.