The local currency Taka is continuously depreciating against the US dollar, thanks to the growing import payments.
The greenback is now Tk 92 as the inter-bank exchange rate stood at Tk 92 per dollar on Tuesday, up from Tk 91.95 on Monday, a Central Banker said.
The local currency has devalued two times on Monday by Tk 1.60 and Tk 0.45 to stand at Tk 91.95.
This higher price of the dollar is creating a burden on importers, but boosting export and remittance earning, market analysts said.
They said the central bank usually sells US dollars directly to commercial banks to meet higher demand for the greenback. It is a sign of the economic stability of the country, they added.
However, the Central Bank has sold a record of about $6 billion directly to commercial banks on higher import payments from the foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the forex market during the first 11 months in the current fiscal. Md Serajul Islam, spokesperson and an executive director of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, “The rate at which Bangladesh Bank sells dollars to banks is considered as the interbank selling rate. On Tuesday, the dollar rate was Tk 92.”
Taka has devalued by Tk 2.10 per dollar this week, which is the highest depreciation in recent times. However, the Bangladesh Bank on 26 May had fixed a uniform rate for selling dollars by all banks for international trade.
However, they withdrew this provision from 2 June and said that banks can set the rates for remittance and Letters of Credit (LC) on their own accord.
A senior official of the treasury department of a state-owned bank said that the rate set by Bangladesh Bank for the collection of remittances would have a major impact. So, the rate has been lifted by the central bank.
However, banks have been asked to be vigilant so that the price of the dollar does not increase suddenly. The foreign exchange houses have been asked to ensure the same.
In interbank transactions alone, the taka has depreciated by more than about 3 percent against the US dollar since April 2021. In April last, the exchange rate was Tk84.8.
On 12 April, following an inter-ministerial meeting, the BPC was told to pay the fuel oil bill by purchasing dollars at the market rate or the interbank rate.
Although in the interbank forex market, per dollar sold at Tk 91.50, the greenback sold at the rate of Tk 97-Tk 98.20 in the open or curb market.
Earlier, on 17 May, the price of $1 rose to Tk102 in the kerb market.