Taka depreciates further; Bangladesh Bank sells USD at Tk 102

Bangladesh Bank yesterday depreciated the taka further by selling the local currency to banks at Tk 102 for a dollar.

The move is aimed at gradually adjusting the exchange rates in line with the market demand and supply.

The latest depreciation comes a month after the central bank sold the greenback to banks at Tk 101 on the first day of February.

Since January, the BB depreciated the local currency by 2 per cent by selling the US dollar to banks to support them meet their foreign currency requirements, particularly for import payments, amid the forex crisis that has been lingering for a year.

Yesterday, the central bank sold $56 million to banks at the new rate, said a senior BB official, seeking anonymity.

"We are adjusting the exchange rate gradually," he said.

The central bank today sold $52.90 million to banks, helping them clear letters of credit.

It has so far injected around $10 billion into banks this fiscal year to reduce the stress emanating from the ongoing dollar shortage in the foreign exchange market after it had sold $7.62 billion in fiscal 2021-22.

In the interbank market, the greenback was traded up to Tk 105.42 on average on February 22, up 22.5 per cent from Tk 86 each a year ago.

Banks also hiked the rate yesterday to purchase US dollars from exporters by Tk 1 to Tk 104, a move that will give a boost to the competitiveness of exports in the international market.

Like many other countries, Bangladesh's taka has been under pressure against the dollar over the last one year owing to higher import payments than overall receipts from export and remittance.

As a result, the country's foreign exchange reserves have been falling. The reserves, which stood at $45.84 billion on February 22 last year, declined to $32.44 billion on February 22 this year.