The taka has become weaker against the dollar again as the central bank has increased the price of the greenback by Taka 0.50 to Taka 109.50 in case of selling from forex reserves.
The central bank sold around US $ 69 million dollars at the new rate today, according to sources at the Bangladesh Bank.
This is the third time the taka was devalued in FY ’24. The price of a dollar was Taka 109 in July this year.
Over the last one year, the country experienced a currency devaluation of Taka 15.05, equivalent to 16 per cent, from Taka 94.45 per dollar a year ago.
A senior official of the central bank told TBS that the central bank is selling dollars from reserves at the interbank rate. The interbank rate for dollars rose by Taka 0.50. So the central bank has also increased the selling rate of dollars from the reserves.
The Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (Bafeda) and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) adjusted the exchange rate of the US dollar on Monday. As per an announcement by the two organisations, the new interbank dollar rate was set at Taka 109.5, which was Taka 109 earlier.
Exporters are currently getting Taka 108.50 per dollar, while the rate is Taka 109 for remittances and Taka 109.5 for import settlement.
Bafeda Chairman and Sonali Bank Managing Director and CEO Md Afzal Karim told TBS, “The central bank is selling dollars according to our declared rate. The Sonali bank is trying to manage the dollar and pay the import debt on time.
“The payment of letters of credit for imports is usually delayed by a day or two in our country. We are getting dollar support from the central bank. Besides, we are also buying dollars from the market. Overall, the situation is better than before.”
According to the central bank, US $ 1.15 billion has been sold from reserves since July of the current fiscal year. In FY ’23, US $ 13.58 billion was sold from reserves to alleviate the dollar crunch. Due to these reasons, the gross reserves decreased from US $ 39.60 billion at the end of July last year to US $ 29.72 billion on Monday. However, that is the old account of reserves. According to the International Monetary Fund’s guidelines, the new gross reserves of central banks is US $ 23.30 billion.
A senior official of the central bank told TBS, “Currently, dollars are sold to the state-owned banks only to clear the payments for importing of fuel and fertilisers. The reserves have not yet fallen to an alarming level.
“Last fiscal year, the average import expenditure was US $ 5.83 billion per month. Accordingly, with the gross reserve we can meet the import expenses of at least four months. In that respect we are still safe.”