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Foreign exchange reserves hit $31.09 billion by Oct end

04 Nov 2016, 09:35:52 | Updated : 04 Nov 2016, 09:36:51

Bangladesh foreign currency reserves top $32 billion


Bangladesh Bank's foreign exchange reserves have bulged beyond the $32 billion mark.

The reserves were $32.05 billion after the end of Thursday, the central bank's spokesperson Shubhankar Saha told, reports bdnews24.com.

The purse is estimated to be enough to pay nine-month import costs.

The reserves, however, are forecast to drop below $32 billion after $790 million is paid in import cost to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) next week.

The currency reserves, on the rise for past few years, crossed the $31 billion mark on Sep 1.

Only once has Bangladesh delayed paying the ACU - in 2001 to avert an image dent as the reserves would have dropped below $1 billion if the import costs were paid at that time.

Now after around 16 years, the reserves are as high as 32 times that amount.

The reserves are rising despite a dip in the flow of remittances by over 15 per cent in past four months.

State-run Agrani Bank Chairman and researcher Zaid Bakht says low imports kept the reserves high.

He also credited clearance of foreign aid and export earnings for the rise.

The researcher of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) sees the rise, even after having $81 million stolen by cyber thieves, as a positive sign for the economy.
 
04 Nov 2016, 09:35:52 | Updated : 04 Nov 2016, 09:36:51

Bangladesh foreign currency reserves top $32 billion


Bangladesh Bank's foreign exchange reserves have bulged beyond the $32 billion mark.

The reserves were $32.05 billion after the end of Thursday, the central bank's spokesperson Shubhankar Saha told, reports bdnews24.com.

The purse is estimated to be enough to pay nine-month import costs.

The reserves, however, are forecast to drop below $32 billion after $790 million is paid in import cost to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) next week.

The currency reserves, on the rise for past few years, crossed the $31 billion mark on Sep 1.

Only once has Bangladesh delayed paying the ACU - in 2001 to avert an image dent as the reserves would have dropped below $1 billion if the import costs were paid at that time.

Now after around 16 years, the reserves are as high as 32 times that amount.

The reserves are rising despite a dip in the flow of remittances by over 15 per cent in past four months.

State-run Agrani Bank Chairman and researcher Zaid Bakht says low imports kept the reserves high.

He also credited clearance of foreign aid and export earnings for the rise.

The researcher of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) sees the rise, even after having $81 million stolen by cyber thieves, as a positive sign for the economy.


It was 31.09 billion dollars a few days ago! o_O
 
01 Nov 2016, 18:52:16 | Updated : 01 Nov 2016, 18:54:55

Forex reserves hit $31.90b by Oct end


Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves hit a record US $31.90 billion by the end of October month, Bangladesh Bank (BB) authorities said on Tuesday (November 1).

Central bank officials said the forex reserve is around $4.32 billion higher than that of the same period in 2015.

They said the $31.90 billion reserve is sufficient to cover about nine months’ imports.

Steady exports of readymade garment (RMG), the country’s main foreign currency earning sector, and remittances sent by Bangladeshis working abroad, are the key factors of the forex reserve boost, according to a news agency.


Good news. Let's look at the full picture of Bangladesh's external balance sheet from Bangladesh Bank (see below link).
  • By end 2016Q3, reserve assets has risen to BDT 2052348.47 million, and is key to drive total assets up by 4.47% over previous quarter, reaching BDT 2483088.43 million.
  • Total liabilities increase slightly by 0.55% to BDT 3851714.06 million.
  • Overall position (Net IIP) stood at BDT -1368625.63 million (USD -17.45696 billion, i.e. debtor). Such a degree of indebtedness is very normal given current stage of fast development, and is on par with regional average. Net IIP showed 5.85% improvement over the previous quarter, trend is very good.
kfhkw.jpg
https://www.bb.org.bd/econdata/bb_nsdp.php

whfkfw.png
 
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FOREX is important its reflects your country purchasing capacity.


Wrong, it got zero to do with purchasing power (what's that term "purchasing capacity"?).
  • Forex reserves are for BoP (Balance of Payments, e.g. imports, withdrawal of foreign investment, debt servicing) and currency stabilization, mostly held in high liquidity assets like cash, bond, gold, treasury bills.
  • Some nations keep low forex reserves, while pledged almost entire external position on sovereign wealth fund (SWF; mandated to go for ROI), examples are oil-rich Norway and UAE.
  • Some nations have excessive level of forex reserves that negatively impact their investment return, example is China.
https://defence.pk/threads/whos-worlds-4th-largest-creditor-nation.455610/
 
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Wrong, it got zero to do with purchasing power.
  • Forex reserves are for BoP (Balance of Payments, e.g. imports, withdrawal of foreign investment, debt servicing) and currency stabilization, mostly held in high liquidity assets like cash, bond, gold, treasury bills.
  • Some nations keep low forex reserves, while pledged almost entire external position on sovereign wealth fund (SWF; mandated to go for ROI), examples are oil-rich Norway and UAE.
  • Some nations have excessive level of forex reserves that negatively impact their investment return, example is China.
https://defence.pk/threads/whos-worlds-4th-largest-creditor-nation.455610/

Very insightful.
 
Because Pakistanis thought that we would do better if we had stuck as Pakistan...

And it stands true because Pakistan is ahead in terms of PPP per capita and Poverty . Bangladesh is classified as an LDC country while Pakistan isn't.

Pakistan = $ 5100 PPP (per capita)
BD = $ 3800

Poverty gap is quite wide too . But good to know Bangladesh is progressing
 
Bangladesh is classified as an LDC country

Bangladesh is intentionally kept as LDC status. It gets better trade quotas that way.

The level of poverty is quite low in Bangladesh and probably the least in South Asia.
The time when other South Asian countries would lecture Bangladesh on poverty has come, and gone.

Bangladesh leads and has bested both Pakistan and India on poverty figures. Level of poverty is 24.6% in Bangladesh while it is 29% or so in both India and Pakistan.

Zamana badal Gaya.
 
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Bangladesh is intentionally kept as LDC status. It gets better trade quotas that way.

The level of poverty is quite low in Bangladesh and probably the least in South Asia. I will post a link later.

Pakistan has the lowest poverty in South Asia out of the big three countries .

http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/PAK

Pakistan

Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population)
7.9% 2011 6.1% 2013

http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/BGD

Bangladesh

Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population)
24.5% 2005 18.5% 2010

Lets Check Multi dimensional Poverty Index

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/47528-pakistan-ranks-better-than-india-bangladesh-on-poverty-scale

A person is identified as multi dimensionally poor (or ‘MPI poor’) if he is deprived of at least one third of the weighted indicators. In other words, the cut-off for poverty is at 33.33 percent. The proportion of the population that is multi dimensionally poor is measured through the incidence of poverty, or headcount ratio. Average proportion of the indicators in which poor people are deprived is called the intensity of poverty. If a person is deprived in 20-33.3 percent of the weighted indicators they are considered ‘vulnerable to poverty’, and if they are deprived in 50 percent or more, they are identified as being in ‘severe poverty’.

According to the index, Pakistan’s MPI is 0.230 and the percentage number of poor is 44.2 percent. The intensity of poverty across the poor is around 52.1 percent, where 15.1 percent of the population is vulnerable to poverty, 23.7 percent lives in severe poverty, and 20.7 percent is classified as destitute. Destitute people are those deprived of even basic amenities of life.

The MPI for Bangladesh is 0.253 and the percentage of number of poor is 51.3 percent. The intensity of poverty across the poor is 49.4 percent, where 20.4 percent of the population is vulnerable to poverty, 21.7 percent lives in severe poverty, and 17.2 percent is classified as destitute.
 
Bangladesh’s poverty rate drops to 24.8%, ultra-poor rate to 6.5 percent
Staff Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2015-09-16 23:40:56.0 BdST Updated: 2015-09-17 00:44:55.0 BdST


  • MDG-Report.jpg

The poverty rate in Bangladesh has declined to 24.8 percent in 2015 while the rate of ultra-poor people dropped to 6.5 percent.

lg.php





The latest status report on Bangladesh's progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) published on Wednesday gave these figures.

Set by the United Nations in 2000, 2015 is the terminal year of the MDGs.

The report comes at a time when the UN is set to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as the post-MDG global development agenda with a 15-year (2016-2030) implementation period.

The report titled, ‘Millennium Development Goals: Bangladesh Progress Report 2015’, said Bangladesh made remarkable progresses in poverty alleviation.

It also did so in ensuring food security, gender parity in primary and secondary-level education, lowering under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate.

The report said immunisation coverage improved and communicable diseases reduced.

Planning Commission member Shamsul Alam, who presented the report, said despite the successes in reaching the MDGs, nearly 40 million people still lived under the poverty line.

Of them, nearly 25 million people were living in high poverty, he added.

Alam emphasised taking further initiative to reduce the rates of hunger and poverty and create employments more along with other issues.

The report said many areas such as primary school completion and adult literacy rates, creation of employment for women with decent wage, increase in the number of skilled health professionals for child delivery, increase in forestation and coverage of information and communication technology needed greater attention.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, at the report’s unveiling, said, “Bangladesh is leading the countries which have been successful in reaching the MDGs.”

“Productive industrialisation in Bangladesh has contributed to reducing the poverty rate,” he said.

The rest of the world would spend 15 years to the reach the poverty alleviation rate that Bangladesh would achieve in four years, Muhith added.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal gave credit to the gradual growth in Bangladesh’s GDP for the decline in poverty rate.

“The world plans to get rid of poverty by 2030, but Bangladesh will do it by 2018,” he said.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh’s MDG scorecard was ‘enough proof that we can deliver on our international commitments’.

He said the country had also received high praises from other countries of the world for continuous progress amid global recession.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman added that the government’s move to introduce inclusive economy and public support had played key roles in poverty alleviation.

Pakistan has the lowest poverty in South Asia out of the big three countries .

Could be. Nobody's trying to measure phalluses here Janaab. Just quoting facts... We need to reduce poverty across the region, it's not a you vs. me competition. But one has to admit that Bangladesh has done well and those lessons can be applied elsewhere.... and your data is old, from 2011......below is recent news report in Pakistani media.

Pakistan and India have identical poverty levels now
SSSabir Shah
June 03, 2016
PAKISTAN
Related Stories


LAHORE: For the first time in the eventful post-1947 history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, the poverty levels in both Pakistan and India are now resting at an identical yet alarming 29.5 per cent level, meaning thereby that every third Pakistani and Indian is literally fighting every hour just to beat hunger and looming starvation.

While unveiling the “Economic Survey,” Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Thursday that 29.5 per cent of Pakistan’s total population was languishing below the poverty line.

Similarly, the August 3, 2015 report of the ‘CNN’ had quoted Indian Planning Commission’s estimates that 363 million citizens of world’s largest democracy, making up 29.5 per cent of the total population, were living below the subsistence levels.

The combined poverty figures of Pakistan and India signify that over 400 million Pakistanis and Indians are only striving today to earn a few loaves of bread and breathe.

On August 3, 2015, a ‘CNN’ report had stated: “India's latest Socioeconomic and Caste Census paints a stark picture of widespread rural poverty and deprivation. Of the 300 million households surveyed, an overwhelming majority (73 per cent) live in villages. Of this rural population, less than five per cent earn enough to pay taxes, only 2.5 per cent own a 4-wheeler vehicle and less than 10 per cent have salaried jobs.”

In 2012, the Reserve Bank of India had stated 21.92 percent of the country’s population was below its official poverty limit and in 2010, the CIA World Factbook had calculated that the country’s poverty level was resting at 29.8 per cent.

According to United Nation's Millennium Development Goal Programme, over 270 million or 21.9 per cent people, out of 1.2 billion of Indians, were living below poverty line of $1.25 in 2011-2012.

In 2011, the World Bank had estimated that 23.6 percent of Indian population or about 276 million people were living below $1.25 per day on purchasing power parity. It is imperative to note that since 2005, Indian government had adopted the “Tendulkar Methodology,” which moved away from calorie anchor to a basket of goods and had used rural, urban and regional minimum expenditure per capita necessary to survive.

In Pakistan, it is still not clear how the government has accurately calculated the national poverty level in absence of a fresh census. More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most of their compatriots live on less than two dollars a day.

India was ranked fifth in the Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2013 with the highest net-worth individuals. As of December 2013, India had 122 billionaires with net assets worth Indian rupees five billion and above.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, the finance minister revealed publicly on Thursday that an amount ranging between $65 billion and $200 billion was parked by affluent Pakistanis in the secret vaults of the Swiss banks.

—Originally published in The News
 
BD has a long way to go still. Key to BDs success has been empowerment of women and long may it continue.

All we need to do is to embed a proper functioning democracy, eliminate the dangerious polarisation along political lines that we have seen and we are set to go.

BD should aim high, divert as much money as possible on economy, education and population control.

As to reserves of £32bn, good I suppose, bd should use some of it to buy some oil futures or more prudently create national investment companies that can invest overseas and grow the money. Start it with couple billions of reserves, then source further funding through national investment bonds. Make it a vehicle of choice to whiten black money by making investor pay in foreign currency, no question asked but they take their interest in Taka and take a proportion of the original capital in taka. BDs primary problem is there is a lot of black money kept outside of the BD system through tax evasion whilst many many banks are dangerously geared up. Current money whitening policies breed contempt of antiquated tax regime. Do away with them I say. Bring black money back into the BD system, and put in place an indirect tax regime. If there was no need to evade tax, BD reserves would hit 100bn in a year. That money in the system could do a lot of good for BDs rating and improve the health of BD banking sector.

If it was me I would divert some of these funds to strategically buy controlling stake of a small oil company such as tallow and use it for BD exploration. We lose a lot of money to foreign companies as oil/gas exploration is not an exact science and it is very expensive for the companies as a lot of sites have to be explored before they hit jackpot. They obviously build in costs of failed exploration in their bids hence countries like BD have to pay such high prices. By owning companies like tallow the cost to BD can be lessened in the long run as shareholders BD will recover some of the cost through dividends. I would go further and get these companies to list in BD stock exchanges increasing their market capitalisation and elevating BD.
 
BD has a long way to go still. Key to BDs success has been empowerment of women and long may it continue.

All we need to do is to embed a proper functioning democracy, eliminate the dangerious polarisation along political lines that we have seen and we are set to go.

BD should aim high, divert as much money as possible on economy, education and population control.

As to reserves of £32bn, good I suppose, bd should use some of it to buy some oil futures or more prudently create national investment companies that can invest overseas and grow the money. Start it with couple billions of reserves, then source further funding through national investment bonds. Make it a vehicle of choice to whiten black money by making investor pay in foreign currency, no question asked but they take their interest in Taka and take a proportion of the original capital in taka. BDs primary problem is there is a lot of black money kept outside of the BD system through tax evasion whilst many many banks are dangerously geared up. Current money whitening policies breed contempt of antiquated tax regime. Do away with them I say. Bring black money back into the BD system, and put in place an indirect tax regime. If there was no need to evade tax, BD reserves would hit 100bn in a year. That money in the system could do a lot of good for BDs rating and improve the health of BD banking sector.

If it was me I would divert some of these funds to strategically buy controlling stake of a small oil company such as tallow and use it for BD exploration. We lose a lot of money to foreign companies as oil/gas exploration is not an exact science and it is very expensive for the companies as a lot of sites have to be explored before they hit jackpot. They obviously build in costs of failed exploration in their bids hence countries like BD have to pay such high prices. By owning companies like tallow the cost to BD can be lessened in the long run as shareholders BD will recover some of the cost through dividends. I would go further and get these companies to list in BD stock exchanges increasing their market capitalisation and elevating BD.

Excellent ideas, all.

However investing Gas/Oil futures or instruments does not look too great right now because of fracking overproduction in the US/Canada border areas.

Lots of oil companies have gone bust because this one factor alone, which is making cheap gas abundant on the one hand and turning Saudi Arabia into a 'diversified' economy. :-)
 
And it stands true because Pakistan is ahead in terms of PPP per capita and Poverty . Bangladesh is classified as an LDC country while Pakistan isn't.

Pakistan = $ 5100 PPP (per capita)
BD = $ 3800

Poverty gap is quite wide too . But good to know Bangladesh is progressing

Pakistan PP is still higher only because it had a higher head start in 1972. When the former Pakistan was divided into two, the West had $15 billion and the East had $10 billion GDP. Moreover, All the foreign exchange was taken away to the West during 1971. BD had no foreign exchange reserve in its coffer. It had to start with a paltry US$36.00 donated by the then PM Tajuddin Ahmed immediately after the war to the National Bank. Today, that Bhukha/Nanga BD has $32 billion in its reserve. Not a small piece of accomplishment!!

Poverty gap between the two countries is no more countable because the rate of poverty in BD is somewhere near 24%. Another thread says so.
 
Pakistan PP is still higher only because it had a higher head start in 1972. When the former Pakistan was divided into two, the West had $15 billion and the East had $10 billion GDP. Moreover, All the foreign exchange was taken away to the West during 1971. BD had no foreign exchange reserve in its coffer. It had to start with a paltry US$36.00 donated by the then PM Tajuddin Ahmed immediately after the war to the National Bank. Today, that Bhukha/Nanga BD has $32 billion in its reserve. Not a small piece of accomplishment!!

Poverty gap between the two countries is no more countable because the rate of poverty in BD is somewhere near 24%. Another thread says so.

Bangladesh 's nominal per capita was higher than Pakistan in 72 due to the effect of war on our economy but since 30-35 years it has been behind in that too , so i dont think headstart applies in this scenerio . As for Poverty i quoted world bank and MPI which has Pakistan less poverty than Bangladesh . You are quoting national figures and not international ones. Bangladesh has started to grow since last decade only so its natural it has more poverty .

Bangladesh’s poverty rate drops to 24.8%, ultra-poor rate to 6.5 percent
Staff Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2015-09-16 23:40:56.0 BdST Updated: 2015-09-17 00:44:55.0 BdST


  • MDG-Report.jpg
The poverty rate in Bangladesh has declined to 24.8 percent in 2015 while the rate of ultra-poor people dropped to 6.5 percent.

lg.php





The latest status report on Bangladesh's progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) published on Wednesday gave these figures.

Set by the United Nations in 2000, 2015 is the terminal year of the MDGs.

The report comes at a time when the UN is set to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as the post-MDG global development agenda with a 15-year (2016-2030) implementation period.

The report titled, ‘Millennium Development Goals: Bangladesh Progress Report 2015’, said Bangladesh made remarkable progresses in poverty alleviation.

It also did so in ensuring food security, gender parity in primary and secondary-level education, lowering under-five mortality rate and maternal mortality rate.

The report said immunisation coverage improved and communicable diseases reduced.

Planning Commission member Shamsul Alam, who presented the report, said despite the successes in reaching the MDGs, nearly 40 million people still lived under the poverty line.

Of them, nearly 25 million people were living in high poverty, he added.

Alam emphasised taking further initiative to reduce the rates of hunger and poverty and create employments more along with other issues.

The report said many areas such as primary school completion and adult literacy rates, creation of employment for women with decent wage, increase in the number of skilled health professionals for child delivery, increase in forestation and coverage of information and communication technology needed greater attention.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, at the report’s unveiling, said, “Bangladesh is leading the countries which have been successful in reaching the MDGs.”

“Productive industrialisation in Bangladesh has contributed to reducing the poverty rate,” he said.

The rest of the world would spend 15 years to the reach the poverty alleviation rate that Bangladesh would achieve in four years, Muhith added.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal gave credit to the gradual growth in Bangladesh’s GDP for the decline in poverty rate.

“The world plans to get rid of poverty by 2030, but Bangladesh will do it by 2018,” he said.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh’s MDG scorecard was ‘enough proof that we can deliver on our international commitments’.

He said the country had also received high praises from other countries of the world for continuous progress amid global recession.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman added that the government’s move to introduce inclusive economy and public support had played key roles in poverty alleviation.



Could be. Nobody's trying to measure phalluses here Janaab. Just quoting facts... We need to reduce poverty across the region, it's not a you vs. me competition. But one has to admit that Bangladesh has done well and those lessons can be applied elsewhere.... and your data is old, from 2011......below is recent news report in Pakistani media.

Pakistan and India have identical poverty levels now
SSSabir Shah
June 03, 2016
PAKISTAN
Related Stories


LAHORE: For the first time in the eventful post-1947 history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, the poverty levels in both Pakistan and India are now resting at an identical yet alarming 29.5 per cent level, meaning thereby that every third Pakistani and Indian is literally fighting every hour just to beat hunger and looming starvation.

While unveiling the “Economic Survey,” Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Thursday that 29.5 per cent of Pakistan’s total population was languishing below the poverty line.

Similarly, the August 3, 2015 report of the ‘CNN’ had quoted Indian Planning Commission’s estimates that 363 million citizens of world’s largest democracy, making up 29.5 per cent of the total population, were living below the subsistence levels.

The combined poverty figures of Pakistan and India signify that over 400 million Pakistanis and Indians are only striving today to earn a few loaves of bread and breathe.

On August 3, 2015, a ‘CNN’ report had stated: “India's latest Socioeconomic and Caste Census paints a stark picture of widespread rural poverty and deprivation. Of the 300 million households surveyed, an overwhelming majority (73 per cent) live in villages. Of this rural population, less than five per cent earn enough to pay taxes, only 2.5 per cent own a 4-wheeler vehicle and less than 10 per cent have salaried jobs.”

In 2012, the Reserve Bank of India had stated 21.92 percent of the country’s population was below its official poverty limit and in 2010, the CIA World Factbook had calculated that the country’s poverty level was resting at 29.8 per cent.

According to United Nation's Millennium Development Goal Programme, over 270 million or 21.9 per cent people, out of 1.2 billion of Indians, were living below poverty line of $1.25 in 2011-2012.

In 2011, the World Bank had estimated that 23.6 percent of Indian population or about 276 million people were living below $1.25 per day on purchasing power parity. It is imperative to note that since 2005, Indian government had adopted the “Tendulkar Methodology,” which moved away from calorie anchor to a basket of goods and had used rural, urban and regional minimum expenditure per capita necessary to survive.

In Pakistan, it is still not clear how the government has accurately calculated the national poverty level in absence of a fresh census. More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most of their compatriots live on less than two dollars a day.

India was ranked fifth in the Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2013 with the highest net-worth individuals. As of December 2013, India had 122 billionaires with net assets worth Indian rupees five billion and above.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, the finance minister revealed publicly on Thursday that an amount ranging between $65 billion and $200 billion was parked by affluent Pakistanis in the secret vaults of the Swiss banks.

—Originally published in The News

Check Multi-dimensional poverty Index for 2015 .
 
Excellent ideas, all.

However investing Gas/Oil futures or instruments does not look too great right now because of fracking overproduction in the US/Canada border areas.

Lots of oil companies have gone bust because this one factor alone, which is making cheap gas abundant on the one hand and turning Saudi Arabia into a 'diversified' economy. :-)


All the more reason to buy a small international energy company now cheap. BD is going to need oil and gas to grow... our energy security needs us to control exploration in our country and have a stake internationally as well.

Fracking may suddenly increase global reserves of carbon based energy a thousandfold but the point is BD for the foreseeable future is going to be reliant on fossil fuel.
 
Today, that Bhukha/Nanga BD has $32 billion in its reserve. Not a small piece of accomplishment!!
Could've been a lot more if we weren't among the most corrupted countries in the world.
 

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