Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) deprecated significantly against the US dollar at the inter-bank foreign exchange market in the last week that ended on Thursday.
The local currency depreciated by 0.55 per cent or 45 paisa against the US currency at the inter-bank forex market, according to the market operators.
The banks were quoted the US dollar at BDT 81.60 on Thursday against BDT 81.15 a week ago, they added.
On the other hand, the BDT deprecated by 0.14 per cent or more than 11 paisa against the US dollar at the customer level during the period under review for clearing import payment obligations.
The average exchange rate of the US dollar rose to BDT 82.9011 for Bill for Collection (BC) selling on Thursday from 82.7872 a week before, according to the statistics of Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA).
Some banks have also traded the US currency at maximum BDT 84.70 on Wednesday against BDT 84.00 a week ago in the name of corporate deals, they added.
The BDT recorded a depreciating mode in the entire last week despite injected US dollar in the market by the central bank through selling the greenback to the banks directly.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, sold US$ 102 million to different banks in the last week to keep the forex market stable.
The central bank has resumed providing the foreign exchange support in the recent months through selling of the US currency to the banks directly to keep the market stable.
A total of $518 million was sold since July 01 of this fiscal year, 2017-18, to the commercial banks as part of its ongoing support, according to BB’s latest data.
The market operators said the demand for the US dollar is gradually increasing, mainly due to higher import payments pressure, particularly of capital machinery, petroleum products and consumer items including food grains.
“The ongoing upward trend of BDT/US$ may continue in the next week mainly due to higher demand for the greenback in the market to settle import payment obligations,” a senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank explained.
BBN/SSR/AD