Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh taka (BDT) has been depreciated marginally by 0.03 per cent against the US dollar following the demand of the greenback increased in the market.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 68.52- BDT 68.54 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on Sunday against BDT 68.52 of the previous working day, officials said.
"The rate of US dollar has been revised in line with the market demand," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, told BBN in Dhaka.
On September 22 last, the BDT moved up marginally (0.017 per cent) against the US dollar following increased inflow of foreign currency in the market.
Market players said that the local currency should be devalued more against the US currency to encourage exporters as well as help to increase the flow of inward remittances.
"The BDT will have to be depreciated more to make export competitive because of the similar measure taken by the neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan," a treasure official of a private commercial bank (PCB) told BBN in the capital, Dhaka.
At a seminar, bankers and experts on Saturday stressed on the introduction of a competitive exchange rate to ensure competitiveness of local export in the global market.
They said India and Pakistan have already changed their exchange rates against the US dollar aiming to make their export competitive in the global market.
On the other hand, the central bank continued its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market by selling and buying US dollar directly and providing such short-term facilities to the banks aiming to keep the market stable.
As part of the intervention, the BB bought $139 million from a foreign commercial bank recently.
The central bank started intervention in the market by selling the US currency directly to the authorised dealers from October 29, 2007 to keep the market steady.
The BB has since sold $735 million to the commercial banks as part of its intervention in the market, officials confirmed.
BBN/SI/SS/AD-20October08-11:03 AM (BST)