The exchange rate of the Bangladeshi taka dropped again, against the US dollar primarily due to higher demand for the greenback for settling import-payment obligations.
The local currency lost its value by Tk0.25 in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market on Monday in a fall after nearly two weeks, market operators said.
The US currency was quoted at Tk86.70 each on the day against Tk86.45 on the previous working day. It was Tk86.20 on April 26.
The taka lost its value by 1.05% or Tk0.90 since January 2022 on the same ground, they added.
The US dollar was quoted at a maximum of Tk86.75 each for the sale of bills for collection, generally known as BC, on the day against Tk86.50 of the previous level.
Some banks, however, traded the US currency at more than Tk93 in the name of “corporate deal” to settle import-payment obligations of their customers, according to the operators.
On the other hand, the banks quoted dollars at Tk85.75 on the day against Tk85.50 on the previous working day to remitters for telegraphic transfer (TT) of their funds.
The central bank has so far sold nearly $5 billion from the reserve directly to the commercial banks as liquidity support for settling their import-payment obligations in the current fiscal year 2021-22.
Bangladesh's foreign currency reserve came down to nearly $44 billion on Monday from $44.07 billion of the previous working day, according to official figures.
The forex reserve is likely to fall below $42 billion on Tuesday after making a routine payment worth $2.24 billion to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against the imports of the March-April of 2022.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve has been maintaining a falling trend in recent months following higher import payment obligations along with lower flow of inward remittances.
The taka's latest depreciation came against the backdrop of higher outflow of foreign exchange following higher import-payment obligations than that of the inflow in the last few months, the operators added.
Meanwhile, the settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual import, in terms of value, rose by nearly 50% to $60.57 billion during the July-March period of FY22, from $40.48 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, Bangladesh Bank data showed.
On the other hand, the opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, grew by more than 46% to $68.36 billion during the period from $46.81 billion in the same period of FY21.
The operators, however, say lower remittance inflow also pushed up pressure on the country's foreign-exchange market recently.
The flow of inward remittances dropped by more than 16% to $17.31 billion during the July-April period of FY22, compared to $20.66 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
