Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Bangladesh taka (BDT) depreciated marginally by around 0.20 per cent against the US dollar this week following a rise in demand for the greenback in the market.

The US dollar was traded at BDT 69.7500-BDT 69.7950 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on Thursday against BDT 69.6300-BDT 69.6500 on Sunday, treasury officials said.

The BDT has been depreciating from the first working day of this week mainly due to the increasing demand for greenback in the inter-bank market for settlement of import payments.

“The local currency has depreciated marginally against the US dollar this week on the basis of market demand,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, adding that the central bank is monitoring the overall foreign exchange market closely to keep it stable.

The demand for greenback picked up this week due to higher import payment pressures particularly for petroleum products and essential items, a senior treasury official of a commercial bank said, adding that the demand for US dollar may ease in the next week.

BBN/SI/AD-24Sept10-8:05 pm (BST)