DHAKA: The foreign exchange reserves reached to a record $19.40 billion--for the first time in Bangladesh--on the back of an increase in remittances, exports and low investment.

AFM Asaduzzaman, spokesperson for the Bangladesh Bank, the figure makes Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves second only to India’s in the sub-continent.

Despite various crises, both on the local and international front, the country’s remittance and export have been growing continuously, which have pulled up the foreign exchange reserves, he added.

BDST: 1840 HRS, FEB 19, 2014