The Taka-dollar exchange rates have come down as the Bangladesh Bank has started to buy the greenback from the local currency market.Over the last one month, the rate for one US dollar has dropped by Tk 0.45.On Monday, the central bank bought $25 million at Tk 78.50 per dollar. The exchange rate was Tk 78.95 a month ago.During the ongoing 2015-16 fiscal, Bangladesh Bank has bought altogether $2.16 billion from the local market.The move comes in an effort to ‘stabilise’ the market amidst an increased supply of US dollars, says the central bank.“The supply propped up due to increased export earnings and remittance inflow. Lower oil prices and import costs also contributed,” said Bangladesh Bank’s forex wing chief Kazi Sayedur Rahman.These factors led the Taka gaining against the US dollar, said the central bank official.On Nov 30, the exchange rate was at Tk 78.95. On Monday it was Tk 78.50.Prior to that, it was steady at Tk 77.80 for almost a year. From September last year, the taka started to fall against the greenback.Official figures show that in the three months from September to November, the exchange rate rose by Tk 1.15 before it started to fall again.
The demand for US dollars grew as exports and remittances hit a ‘snag’ then, said Rahman, the general manager of central bank’s Forex Reserve and Treasury Management Division.“Now the payments for oil have dropped drastically. Import costs for food items are now lower. There’s a huge balance of payment surplus, so it’s natural that the taka is getting stronger,” he said.According to central bank statistics, the exchange rate skyrocketed to Tk 85 in 2012. It gradually came down to Tk 77.40 in August 2014.Bangladesh introduced a floating exchange rate in 2003, which means the market would determine the rate. But the central bank has intervened on the rates from time to time.So far, in this fiscal, the Bangladesh Bank has already bought $2.16 billion from the market against $3.4 billion in the entire last fiscal (2014-15).
source:bdnews24.com
