BBN file photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The Bangladesh Taka (BDT) has depreciated by BDT 1.0 against the US dollar so far this calendar year in the inter-bank foreign exchange market.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 84.90 each in the inter-bank forex market on November 27 against BDT 83.90 on January 02.
The demand for the greenback is gradually increasing, mostly driven by higher import payment, particularly for intermediate goods, oil and capital machinery for power plants.
The BDT’s erosion was equally blamed on the falling trend in the export income during the first four months of this fiscal.
Bangladesh’s export income dropped by nearly 7.0 per cent to $12.72 billion during the July-October period of fiscal 2019-20, from $13.65 billion in the same period a year before.
On Wednesday, the BDT depreciated by 10 poisha to BDT 84.90 each against BDT 84.80 of the previous working day.
Senior bankers, however, predicted that the pressure on the country’s foreign exchange market would increase in December due to the lower export income in recent months.
The demand for greenback may increase further in near future unless the central bank offers its adequate foreign currency support, they explained.
The pressure on the country’s foreign exchange market may increase in December due to the lower export income in recent months.
On the other hand, the central bank has continued providing forex support to banks through the sales of US dollars to keep the market stable.
As part of the initiative, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) sold US$20 million more to three state-owned banks to help them meet the soaring demand.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 84.90 each on Thursday in the inter-bank forex market, unchanged from the previous level, according to the market operators.
The BB official said the central bank may continue providing such foreign currency support to the banks in line with the market requirement.
A total of $299 million has been sold to the banks so far this fiscal, as part of the central bank’s ongoing support.
In FY’19, the BB sold $2.34 billion to the banks on the same ground, the BB data showed.
BBN/SSR/AD