President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Mahbubul Alam, has urged the Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB), Fazle Kabir, to rein in the unusually high price of the US dollar against the Bangladesh Taka.
The CCCI President made the request in a letter sent on Saturday. The letter asked the BB for immediate action to stop the malpractices of some commercial banks.
The foreign currency market has become unstable due to the volatile price of the US dollar at import and retail levels. Concealing information, banks are selling dollars to importers at higher prices and submitting documents to the central bank showing lower prices, the letter mentioned.
Many banks are not complying with the directives of BB to sell the US dollar at Tk83.85. Instead, they are selling dollars to importers at Tk84.60 to Tk85.40. The letter further pointed out that some banks are even selling dollars at Tk86.00 at the retail level.
Under such circumstances, the price of imported commodities and raw materials will shoot up. As a result, businesspeople and entrepreneurs will suffer, which will eventually take its toll on consumers.
Recently, neighbouring country India lowered the price of the dollar from Indian Rupee 74 to 71. However, since the price is around Tk86 in Bangladesh, the foreign currency market of the country has turned unstable, negatively impacting the overall economy of the country.
In recent years, the incumbent government has successfully kept inflation in check. If not checked, instability in the foreign currency market of the country, ahead of the 11th parliamentary election, will dent the image of the government, said the letter.
In the letter, the CCCI President recommended Bangladesh Bank should intervene to keep the price of the US dollar stable for the sake of the country's economy.
