This is for the second time the country's foreign currency reserve crossed $3 billion-mark, after 1995 when the amount was $3.077 billion.

The reserve witnessed a continued surge over the last few months, Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials said. The amount was $2.7 billion at the end of June this year.

The reserve will remain above $3 billion even after payment of $200 million to Asian Clearing Union (ACU) next week. The amount is equivalent to the import bills of more than four months, the BB officials said.

Bangladesh has been receiving over $3 billion remittance for the last two years which was earlier below $2 billion on average. BB officials said the continued growth in remittance mostly contributed to the healthy reserve.

Besides, the country received a total of $400 million from the WB and IMF as budgetary support, assistance for education sector and Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) loan, which also helped maintain higher foreign exchange reserve.

In last one month, the WB disbursed $200 million as budgetary support and $100 million for education sector development while the IMF provided $100 million as PRGF loan to help Bangladesh prepare for the quota-free regime.

Finance ministry officials said although overall foreign aid disbursement was not very significant over the last few years, Bangladesh received another $450 million as budgetary support and PRGF loan in the last one-and-a-half years.

Remittance flow also saw an 11 percent rise in the first month of this fiscal year compared to the same month of last year. Expatriates sent $287.7 million in July this year while the amount was $258.8 million in July 2003.

According to Bangladesh Bank statistics, expatriates sent remittances worth $239.39 million between August 1 and 26.

Moreover, the country witnessed robust growth in export earnings that enriched the foreign exchange reserve. In the last financial year, the amount fetched was $7602.99 million posting a 16.10 percent growth over the previous year.