Tk deflates slightly against US dollar

The local currency has depreciated slightly against the US dollar after maintaining stability for more than seven months in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market, treasury officials said.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 78.41-Tk 78.44 in the forex market on Monday, against Tk 78.41-Tk 78.42 of the previous working day. It was Tk 78.40-Tk 78.42 on Thursday.
"Such depreciating trend of the Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) against the greenback may continue in the near future also to meet the growing demand for the US dollar before the end of this calendar year," a senior treasury official of a private commercial bank (PCB) told the FE.
He also said the demand for the greenback normally rises before the end of each calendar year for remitting profits of different mutational companies.
Earlier, on March 13, the US dollar was quoted at Tk 78.40 in the market.
In November 30 last year, the greenback was quoted at maximum Tk 78.95 in the inter-bank market, another treasury official informed.
On the other hand, an upward trend in imports in October has pushed up the demand for the greenback in the market, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
He also said the country's overall imports bounced back in the month due to rise in capital machinery imports along with back-to-back imports for ready-made garment (RMG) sector.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) stood at US$ 1.40 billion in the first two weeks of October. The value of opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, was $ 1.53 billion, according to BB's latest statistics. However, the settlement of LCs fell by more than 13 per cent to $ 2.99 billion in September 2016 from $ 3.43 billion in August.
On the other hand, the opening of LCs also decreased by 7.36 per cent to $ 3.53 billion in September from $ 3.81 billion of the previous month.
Talking to the FE, another treasury official of a PCB said a declining trend in both export earnings and flow of inward remittances in September has pushed down the flow of foreign currency in the market.
Besides, the central bank's purchasing of the US dollar from the commercial banks also helped to increase its demand in the market, he added.
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