Dollar buy from Bangladesh Bank becomes costlier as the central bank again raised the exchange rate by Tk 1.0 to Tk 103 each on Monday in a readjustment process.
Officials concerned said the policy-rate raise came as part of a plan to up the exchange rate of the US currency further to cross Tk 105 each by June.
The latest enhancement in the exchange rate of the US dollar, sold from the BB's reserves, came a few days after the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association (BAFEDA) and the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) had increased the exchange rate on export proceeds by Tk 1.0 to Tk 105.
Confirming the development, BB spokesperson Md Mezbaul Hoque said the central bank raised the exchange rate by Tk 1.0 to reach Tk 103 to minimise the difference among existing multiple rates.
He said the BB planned to ensure a unified dollar rate on the forex market and the latest revision was a part of the process.
Even in the half-yearly Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), announced last month, the central bank mentioned that the difference in the regulated rates would be maximum two-percentage points.
As part of the parity move, the BB raised the dollar-taka exchange rates several times in the past months. The exchange rate was Tk 96 on September 12 last year.
Following consistent rise in the rates, the BB is now selling the dollar to the banks at Tk 103 each, which is planned to be revised further upward to cross Tk 105 by June.
Seeking anonymity, a BB official said they are going to raise the rate further to Tk 104 in the coming month, and the upward revision of the greenback would continue to cross Tk 105 by June.
Citing the MPS, the official said they need to reach the goal anyhow by June, so that the MPS target of keeping the difference in rates by two-percentage points is achieved.
Apart from the BB-charged rate, there are multiple exchange rates in the money market. These are Tk 105 for exporters and Tk 107 for remitters.
In terms of import, the rate is calculated on the basis of weighted average of the rates for export and remittance adding Tk 1.0 each, according to the BB.
The central banker said one of the suggestions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was letting the market determine the rate.
"If we can reach the targeted rate by June, we'll be very close to the unified market rate."
He opined that the measure would help protect the country's foreign exchange reserve, which is already under stress in the wake of dollar appreciation and mounting import cost amid global supply-chain disruptions.
The pressure on the forex reserve keeps rising amid the volatile global macro-economic situation following the Russia-Ukraine war. Now, by official count, the reserve stood at US$31.20 billion as on April 02.
As part of the reserve-shielding moves, the BB is encouraging import of essential goods only.
So, the banks that facilitate import of such essential items would face some pressure to meet their dollar requirement from the central bank.
Now the BB is selling the greenback to the commercial banks at Tk 103 each following upward revision of the rate in line with the IMF suggestion for reaching a uniform dollar exchange rate in the market.
Citing the recent upward adjustment of dollar rate by the BAFEDA, another BB official said the plan is to make the rates of the BB, the BAFEDA and interbank equal, and take those to a level where the difference with the rate that the remitters enjoy would be two percentage points.
"We need to reach the target by June in accordance with our MPS," he added.
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