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The US dollar price for import letters of credit (LC) has remained stable at around Tk 122 despite the implementation of a market-based exchange rate.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh Bank (BB) finally announced a shift to a market-based exchange rate system, allowing market participants to trade dollars at freely negotiated rates to get IMF loan confirmation.
To this end, the treasury head of commercial banks held an informal meeting on Thursday and decided to trade foreign currency at Tk 122.
A treasury head of a bank said that treasury heads of around 50 banks participated in today’s virtual meeting, and they have made the decision to sell dollars for import LC at Tk 122, according to a BSS report.
They are also offering a dollar rate for remittance at Tk 122, he added.
He said banks have available dollar liquidity as remittance inflow is high ahead of Eid, and they did not observe any foul play from aggregators on the day.
On the market-based exchange rate, BB Governor Ahsan H Mansur, at a press conference on Wednesday, expressed the hope that it would be around the existing rate, as liquidity in the foreign exchange market is increasing due to a rise in the inflow of US dollars.
“Bangladesh’s economy is doing well. The current account deficit is manageable, and our reserves have risen without external support. We believe the time is right. I expect the rate to remain stable due to strong inflows from exports and remittances,” he added.
The governor said it does not mean the dollar can be sold at any price. “We expect the rate to hover around the current level,” he noted.
However, he said, there will be an undisclosed band within which the exchange rate must stay.