In Bangladesh, Foreign exchange reserves have been continuously declining in recent months while inflation is rising rapidly.

According to Bangladesh Bank Data, forex reserves reduced to 23.56 US billion dollar in mid July from 46.15 US billion Dollar in December 2021 While inflation climbed to a record high of 9.02 percent in the recently concluded financial year 2022-23.

Due to depleting forex reserves, the government has been forced to implement many tariff and non tariff barriers on imports which leads to rise in inflation over a period of time.

Bangladesh Bank is not meeting dollar demand of commercial banks to pay import bills which leads to high exchange rate for dollars in the local market and Hawala transfer of remittance.

Automobile sales, one of the key indicators of economic growth, fell by almost 44 per cent in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period last year,according to Bangladesh Road Transport Authorities (BRTA) data.

In an unprecedented move, Petrobangla- Government company responsible for producing and purchasing Gas and LNG, has sought 500 US million dollar in loan from Islamic Trade Finance Corporation to clear overdue payments to gas suppliers and producers, said officials of Petrobangla.

General elections are due in the Bangladesh in December this year or early next year.