US dollar has appreciated by 25 paisa to stand at Tk 86.45 on Wednesday against the local currency Taka amid higher demand for the greenback in the foreign exchange market.
Bangladesh Bank devalued the taka against the US dollar in order to tackle the pressure of the greenback on higher import payments and give encouragement to remitters.
Experts said the demand for US dollars has increased in the inter-bank forex market as the country's import demand picked up recently and the remittance inflow has declined as well. 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.
To stabilize the forex market, the central bank sold almost $4.50 billion directly to banks in nearly nine months of this fiscal year due to the rising demand for the US dollar.
On Wednesday, the interbank exchange rate hit Tk 86.45 per dollar for the first time, up from $86.20 in the previous day, according to BB data.
Although, in the interbank forex market, per dollar is sold at Tk 86.45, the banks, however, are selling cash dollars at Tk 92.
A market analyst said the central bank has no direct control over the open market.
“The local currency is trading at more than Tk 92 per dollar in the kerb market,” an official mentioned.
“However, if the banks sell dollars at higher prices, Bangladesh Bank intervenes because the banks buy dollars from the central bank at the interbank rate and sell those dollars,” he added.
As seen earlier, Bangladesh Bank would have set a limit on the difference between the dollar sold by the banks and the interbank rate, the difference used to be between one and two Taka.
However, in the last few months, the banks have been selling dollars at a much higher price than the interbank rate, but so far Bangladesh Bank has not intervened.
That is why, as the days go on, the banks are increasing the value of the US currency dollar as they wish while the value of the local currency is decreasing. In this situation, the cost of imports is increasing while commodity prices are rising. However, exporters and expatriates are benefiting. Even selling dollars to commercial banks is not going to control the price.
