Fakhrul’s claim of govt “not having over US$16bn in usable forex reserves” a blatant lie: AL

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has faced criticism on social media following its recent claim over the state of the country's forex reserves amid the ongoing austerity measures to deal with global inflation.

Appearing in a public event, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday (July 29, 2022) said that the government has "not more than $16 billion in usable forex reserves" in the country.

Forex reserves stood at $39.49 billion on Wednesday, according to Bangladesh Bank.

In a prompt response to BNP's claim over the forex reserves, Awami League's verified Facebook page posted a comment.

"It seems BNP survives on lies… it's a well-designed attempt to create confusion in public mind," reads the post.

AL said any sensible citizen of the country will not support these rumours.

"They are turning Bangladesh into a failed state. So, we can't give Awami League any more time and chance. The more they stay in power, the faster the destruction of the country will accelerate," Fakhrul said yesterday.

Reverting to the claim, the social media post by Awami League said: "While the forex reserve of Bangladesh has settled on 40 billion dollars, Mirza Fakhrul made this sudden remark that it won't be more than 16 billion. Perhaps his motive was to reduce the gap between 2 billion USD during BNP's tenure and 40 billion dollars now. Mirza Fakhrul and his people do politics based on rumors and lies."