Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Increased import of fuel oil for consumption in the power sector coupled with imports of food items pushed The US Dollar (USD) – Bangladesh Taka (BDT) currency pair to tread in uncharted territories throughout 2011.
The USD/BDT plunged by BDT 11.03 against the USD during 2011, which is around 15.55 percent depreciation of BDT against the USD over the year, according to the Citibank N.A. annual market update report -2011, released on Thursday.
“This is the highest percentage depreciation in BDT value against the USD since 2000,” the report said, adding that the USD/BDT exchange rate started the year hovering around 70.93 and broke the 72 level during late March.
Increased demand for the greenback to meet import payments pushed the USD/BDT rate upward to break 74.00 level during late June, the report added.
The last quarter of 2011 observed the BDT coming down by more than BDT 6.50 per USD to mark the new record low around USD/BDT 81.99 level on the last trading day of December.
“The Bangladesh Bank has regularly intervened in the inter-bank foreign exchange (FX) market, curbing excessive volatility tendencies,” the US-based Citigroup noted.
BBN/SSR/AD-30Dec11-10:12 pm (BST)
