Dollar price rises to Tk99
The demand for dollars went up due to a rise in import bills
The price of dollar has increased again with the US currency traded for Tk99, up from Tk98, in the kerb market on Sunday.
However, the greenback exchange rate for interbank transactions remained static at Tk87.5
Besides, the dollar exchange rate for intermarket transactions was Tk97.5.
After reaching the Tk100 mark last Monday, the market price of the dollar was Tk97.50 on Wednesday which came down to Tk97 at some of the money exchanges.
The demand for dollars went up due to a rise in import bills. Also, the fall in remittance flow along with the increased rate of import bills has contributed to making the situation more critical.
The central bank has sold over $1 billion to banks in a bid to control the dollar price which became a futile attempt. Besides, the central bank raised the dollar price several times up to Tk1.30 helping the rise in the dollar price over Tk100 in the open market.
Forex reserve under pressure
As demand for the dollar rose due to increased imports, the Bangladesh Bank started selling greenbacks, releasing $5.11 billion to banks till 12 May. In FY21, the central bank purchased around $8 billion from banks.
In the meantime, forex reserves are facing pressure because of a rise in imports in post-pandemic times and their higher payments caused by rising product prices in the international market.
The country's reserves, which reached $48 billion in August last year, dropped to $41.93 billion on 11 May.
In the July-March period of FY22, exports registered about 33% growth, but it could not hold back the trade balance that slid into a deficit of about $25 billion, which was 9% higher than that of the whole previous fiscal year.
