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State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam today said the country's foreign exchange reserves had increased by US$11 billion over the past seven months to reach US$37 billion despite various economic challenges.
He also said that the country's overall debt burden had declined from 37 percent to 32 percent during the period.
"Foreign exchange reserves stood at US$20 billion when the then autocratic government was ousted on August 5, 2024, following the mass uprising," he said.
The state minister made the remarks while addressing a discussion on formulating strategies to install solar power systems through cooperative societies in urban and rural areas at the Samabaya Bhaban in Agargaon this afternoon.
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan attended the programme as the chief guest.
Shahe Alam said the interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus had increased foreign exchange reserves to US$26 billion over two years, followed by a further rise of US$11 billion in the past seven months, bringing the total to US$37 billion.
Referring to a call by an opposition party leader to halt remittance flows, he said the appeal had failed to disrupt the inflow of remittances.
"Remittances worth Tk 7,776 crore entered the country over the past five days despite the call," he said.
The state minister said expatriate Bangladeshis understood the country's political situation, recalling that remittance flows had stopped during the Liberation War, the anti-Ershad movement in 1990 and the recent movement that led to the fall of the fascist government.
Criticising the opposition's role in parliament and outside, Shahe Alam alleged inconsistencies between its statements in the Jatiya Sangsad and its public criticism of the government.
He said opposition leaders had acknowledged in parliament that the BNP had inherited crises in the oil, gas and electricity sectors, while criticising the government over power and gas shortages in their public statements.
Highlighting the potential of solar energy to help address the country's electricity crisis, Shahe Alam said Bangladesh was currently supplying 1,872 megawatts of solar-generated electricity to the national grid.
He said the government would purchase surplus electricity generated by household solar power systems and called for coordinated initiatives through the Department of Cooperatives to expand solar energy use in both urban and rural areas.
Senior officials of the Department of Cooperatives and representatives of relevant ministries and departments attended the meeting.
