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Bangladesh Bank (BB) has doubled the Exporters’ Retention Quota (ERQ) for merchandise exporters with high import content, a move expected to give exporters greater flexibility in meeting their foreign currency needs.
Under a circular issued on Wednesday by the central bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department (FEPD)-1, the permissible retention limit has been increased from 7.5% to 15% of the repatriated Free on Board (FOB) export value.
With the revised policy, eligible exporters will now be allowed to retain up to 15% of their repatriated export proceeds in their Exporters’ Retention Quota (ERQ) accounts, enabling them to better finance imports of raw materials, machinery and other business-related foreign currency expenses.
Bangladesh Bank said the directive has taken immediate effect and instructed all authorised foreign exchange dealers to implement the revised quota and notify their clients accordingly.
The latest circular amends paragraph 76(1) of FE Circular No. 31, issued on July 31, 2025. The central bank said all other provisions and conditions under paragraph 76 of the earlier circular will remain unchanged.
The revised retention limit is expected to particularly benefit export-oriented industries with high import dependency by improving liquidity in foreign currency and reducing transaction costs.