Dhaka: Bangladesh government did not give permission for Bollywood actress Nora Fatehi’s program. As part of austerity measures to save dollars, permission was denied for the event to be held in Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s Culture Ministry said in a statement that Nora Fatehi’s program was not sanctioned with the aim of maintaining foreign exchange reserves in view of the current global situation.
Hailing from a Moroccan-Canadian family, Fatehi made her Hindi film debut in 2014. Nora Fatehi was scheduled to distribute awards and perform dance at the program organized by Women Leadership Corporation.
The ministry clarified that there are central bank restrictions on dollar payments due to dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Foreign exchange reserves used for imports fell to $36.33 billion as of October 12. This is enough for about four months of imports. But this time it is less than 46.13 billion dollars a year ago.
Ann Marie Gulde Wolff, deputy director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, said the International Monetary Fund is preparing to send a special team to Bangladesh later this month to discuss the country’s requested loans. The country’s reserves are still safe. But on October 13, they had said that the expenditure was out of control. They added that the IMF is discussing an economic program that includes measures to stabilize the economy and avoid further recession.