Bangladeshi banks asked to stop ACU transactions with Sri Lanka

The Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, has instructed banks in the country to refrain from transactions with Sri Lanka through the ACU system, foreign media reported.

The central bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department issued a circular yesterday and sent it to top executives of banks, reports The Business Standard.

The Asian Clearing Union (ACU) is an arrangement through which participating countries settle import payments for intra-regional transactions.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are members of the ACU, which has headquarters in Tehran. The central banks of the countries have to make payments every two months.

If any Bangladeshi bank wants to settle a transaction with a Sri Lankan commercial bank, it can do that by ignoring the ACU system, the report further said.