Price of dollars for import bills against letter of credit (LCs) has been increasing despite a fall in the kerb or open market.
On Tuesday, banks charged importers up to Tk107 for a dollar, which was Tk105 last week, while the interbank exchange rate has been constant at Tk94.70 for the last eight days.
The greenback fell to Tk107 in the kerb market on Tuesday from a record high of Tk112 on July 26, thanks to the ongoing central bank's raids and other regulatory measures.
Bankers claimed that they are now forced to collect dollars at the rate of up to TK112 from the Bangladeshi expatriates abroad, but selling the currency to local importers with a great loss – only to continue business amid the critical situation.
As part of market monitoring, Bangladesh Bank has been conducting raids on different money exchangeS for the last eight days.
So far, it has cancelled the licence of five exchanges, while 42 others were served show-cause notice, Md Serajul Islam, spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told the media on Tuesday.
Decision on the money exchanges who received show-cause notice will depend on their reply, he added.
He told the media that nine more exchangers were sealed off as they were doing business without licences.
Law enforcement agencies will take action if irregularities are found in the exchange of dollars, he added.
Expressing hope that the dollar market will be stable soon, the central bank official said due to the crisis, they have imposed several conditions on imports.