New Delhi: Bollywood actor Nora Fatehi has been denied permission to perform at an event in the capital Dhaka by the Bangladesh government in a bid to save dollars as part of austerity measures, as reported by the news agency Bloomberg.
Fatehi wasn't granted permission "in view of the global situation and with the aim of maintaining the foreign exchange reserves," as reported by Bloomberg citing a notice issued by Bangladesh's Ministry of Cultural Affairs on Monday. Fatehi was all set to dance and hand out awards at an event organized by the Women Leadership Corporation. She made her debut in Hindi films in 2014.
The ministry referred to the central bank's restrictions on dollar payments amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves, which slipped to $36.33 billion as of Oct. 12 -- enough to cover roughly four months of imports -- from $46.13 billion a year earlier.
According to Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, deputy director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund, the IMF is preparing to send its first negotiation mission to Bangladesh later this month to open talks with the government on loans the country has sought.
The reserves "are still at a comfortable level, but the direction has been going down," Bloomberg quoted Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf as saying at a media briefing on Oct. 13.
The IMF is discussing an economic program that will "contain measures to stabilize the economy and to avoid a further downturn in the economy," as reported by Bloomberg.
(With Inputs from Bloomberg)