Bangladesh's foreign currency reserves have slipped below $20 billion again as remittance and export receipts did not pick up to the desired level.

The reserves stood at $19.94 billion on Wednesday, down from $40.7 billion in August 2021, data from the Bangladesh Bank and the International Monetary Fund showed.

It also dropped below the $20-billion mark in December before receiving a much-needed boost from the IMF and the Asian Development Bank, which together provided $1.09 billion in loans.

The volatility in the global market driven by the Russia-Ukraine war has sent commodity prices higher, hitting the reserve level of import-dependent countries such as Bangladesh.

The country had forex reserves of about $33.4 billion at the end of 2021-22.

Since banks, especially the state-run lenders, are taking US dollar support from the central bank to settle import payments of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, and Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, among other agencies, the reserves have been falling continuously.

On the other hand, export and remittance, the two biggest sources of US dollars, have remained lower than expected levels.

Earnings from merchandise shipments rose 1.99 percent to $55.78 billion in the just-concluded calendar year because of the slowdown in apparel sales in the international markets.

Similarly, migrant workers sent home $21.91 billion in 2023, a year-on-year increase of only 2.96 percent.

Imports have still been at an elevated level despite restrictions. It fell 20.94 percent year-on-year to $25.72 billion in the July-November period of the current financial year, BB data showed.