Dhaka, Dec. 1 -- Bangladesh's foreign-exchange reserves dropped below the official US$34-billion mark despite belt-tightening measures to stall the fall to navigate internal and external headwinds on the financial front.

This is the first time the reserves have gone down the level of US$34 billion since April 2020, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.

The BB count showed the forex reserves having fallen to US$33.86 billion Wednesday from US$ 34.05 billion recorded on the previous day (Tuesday), although a recent IMF assessment put the figure far below by discounting an EDF-funding amount.

Talking to the FE, a BB official said the reserves went down US$34 billion after a long time, probably after the early stage of Covid-19 pandemic....