The city’s Gulistan area has turned into a vibrant hub for an exchange of new banknotes just before Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims. Since early morning, people flock to this area for buying newly minted currency notes to offer them to their beloved ones as gifts.
However, they have also expressed dissatisfaction as the cost of buying new banknotes has gone up sharply this year.
According to the Bangladesh Bank data, the central bank issued new notes of Tk 15,000 crore through the banking channel during last Eid-ul-Fitr. But this year, the central bank has issued new notes of Tk 106.56 crore only. In such situation, the price of new banknotes of Tk 5 and Tk 10 has skyrocketed.
During the two Eid festivals every year, the demand for new banknotes surges, resulting in a thriving market for their sales. However, this year has witnessed a steep rise in the prices of new currency notes.
While visiting Gulistan area, it was found that people were standing in long queues to buy new notes from money shops. They were buying money for money. They
were buying currency notes worth Tk 5, Tk 10, Tk 20, Tk 50, Tk 100 and Tk 200.
People who come to buy new money have said that the price of money is very high. The sellers were charging Tk 400 more against a bundle of Tk 50 (Tk 5,000). Similarly, each bundle of Tk 20, Tk 10 and Tk 5 notes is being charged more than Tk 300.
In other words, one has to pay additional Tk 300 to buy a bundle of new banknotes.
When asked, money seller Saidul Islam said, “This time the price of new banknote exchange is high. Actually, Eid time is our peak season for this business as people do not buy new notes at other time. During that time, we mainly exchange shredded banknotes.”
Even banks do not charge for exchanging new notes. But outside Gulistan, Motijheel and Bangladesh Bank, new banknotes are available in exchange for extra charge.
If someone wants to buy a bundle of Tk 20 (Tk 2,000) new notes, then he has to pay more than Tk 2,300. That is the price of Tk 2,000 is Tk 2,300. Similarly, one has to pay Tk 1,300 to buy a bundle of Tk 10 (Tk 1,000) and to buy a bundle of Tk 5 (Tk 500), one has to pay Tk 800.
It is learnt that the central bank releases new notes in the market every year ahead of Eid. A total of 80 branches of different banks in the capital are exchanging new notes on a limited scale. The banks started exchanging new notes from last Sunday (March 31) and it ended today (April 9).
