(Photo of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka's Prime Ministers)
The Bank of Bangladesh has approved in principle a $200-million currency swap with Sri Lanka, as Sri Lanka continues to struggle with its foreign exchange reserve.
Under this agreement, Sri Lanka would keep the same amount of its local currency, the Rupee, with the Bangladesh Bank along with a government guarantee. Bangladesh would receive an estimated 1-2% plus LIBOR from Sri Lanka as interest.
This agreement follows a similar $1.5 billion currency swap with the Peoples’ Bank of China and Sri Lanka has further requested a $ 1 billion swap from India. Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserve stood at $ 4.05 billion in March. The World Bank has reported on Sri Lanka’s dire economic straits noting that a shortage of foreign currency has led the exchange rate to depreciate by 6.5 per cent from January through March 17, 2021.
Read more here: 'Deeper into poverty' - Sri Lanka's economic devastation detailed in World Bank report
This agreement follows Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Bangladesh during its independence jubilee. On 5 April, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, AK Abdul Momen, defended their vote against the UN Human Rights Council resolution by claiming that it was “politically motivated” and stating that “Sri Lanka has done its own investigation”.
As the Daily Star notes, this vote comes despite the country itself being a victim of genocide. In 1971 Pakistan crackdown on Bengalis calling for self-determination and killed an estimated three million people, with an estimated 200,000 women raped and millions forced to flee due to the conflict. Despite this history, Bangladesh voted alongside Pakistan in favour of the Rajapaksa regime.
Read more here.
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