Bangladesh and India will start using the Indian rupee and Bangladeshi taka for trade from September 2023.
At the same time, Bangladesh Bank will introduce a debit card called Taka Pay Card, through which people will be able to withdraw taka or rupee. People who travel to India will get the facility of making payments with this card, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder recently said.
He said people going to India for treatment, education or business will benefit from this system and they can avoid using the US dollar.
From September, India and Bangladesh will open LCs for import and export using the Indian rupee and Bangladeshi taka.
Until now, the rupee has been converted into the dollar, which is then converted again into the rupee; the same is done with the taka.
As a result, Bangladeshi and Indian citizens have been losing at least 6% of the rupee or taka. As the new system will provide for the direct rupee to taka or taka to rupee conversion, no party will be affected, Bangladesh Bank sources said.
The offer was from the government of India, and Bangladesh accepted it. This will eliminate the use of the US dollar for trade and personal travel purposes.
