Dollar’s interbank rate now Tk108.70

The interbank exchange rate for the US dollar reached Tk108.70 amid ongoing supply scarcity of the greenback.

The latest rate is the second-highest after May 22, when it rose to Tk108.75 per dollar, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.

The country’s commercial banks traded each dollar at Tk108.70 among themselves on June 11, up by around 20% from that of a year ago, the BB data showed.

The local currency has faced depreciation by around 25% during the last one year due to higher import payments along with slower-than-expected export earnings and remittance inflow.

Bankers said the interbank dollar rate has risen mainly due to an increase in remittance rates as part of the central bank’s move to reach a market-driven exchange rate.

On April 30, the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (Bafeda) raised the dollar rate by Tk1 to Tk108 for remitters.

Since then, the interbank exchange rate keeps increasing almost every working day to reach the record high of Tk108.75 per dollar on May 22. 

After that, it declined a bit, but is showing an upward trend again.

Even in the half-yearly Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), announced in January, the BB mentioned that the difference in the regulated rates would be maximum two-percentage points.