Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh Taka (BDT) appreciated by 0.16 per cent against the dollar in July last following higher growth of export earnings alongside a surge in inward remittance due to the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 77.50-77.52 on the inter-bank foreign-exchange (forex) market on July 31 against BDT 77.63-77.64 on July 2, according to central bank statistics.
“The BDT appreciated against the US currency due mainly to higher growth of export earnings, the less demand for the greenback to settle import payments and rising trend in inward remittances”, a senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank told BBN in Dhaka.
He also predicted that the existing appreciating trend of BDT against the dollar may continue until September this year.“The demand for theUScurrency may pick up from the month of October 2014 for settling import payments.”
The settlement of letters of credit (LCs) against imports historically increases during the October-November period of any calendar year, the treasury official noted.
The country received $936.63 million as remittance between July 1 and July 18 from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data showed.
“We expect that the flow of inward remittance may cross $1.35 billion by the end of this month,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN.
BBN/SSR/AD-01Aug14-2:42 pm (BST)
