DHAKA - Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves rose to $32.93 billion at the end of August, $847 million more than at the end of July, the central bank said on Monday.

The reserves were down nearly 2 percent from a year earlier, and are sufficient to cover about 10 months' worth of imports for the country of 160 million people.

Steady garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, the key drivers of the country's more than $200 billion economy, have helped foreign exchange reserves grow steadily in recent years.

The government is targeting record economic growth of 7.8 percent in the current financial year that started in July, up from record growth of 7.65 percent last year.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Nick Macfie) ((Ruma.Paul@thomsonreuters.com; +880 2 58315303; Reuters Messaging: ruma.paul.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))