BB selling dollars at Tk102 to banks

Staff Correspondent: The US dollar gained against the Tk as the Bangladesh Bank is selling the American greenback to banks at Tk102.
The move is aimed at adjusting the exchange rates gradually in line with the market demand and supply.
The latest depreciation comes a month after the central bank sold the greenback to banks at Tk101.
Since January, the central bank depreciated the local currency by 2%.
The BB is selling the US dollar to banks to help them meet their foreign currency requirements, particularly for import payments, amid the foreign exchange crisis that has been lingering for a year.
In the interbank market, the greenback was traded up to Tk105.42 on average on February 22, up 22.5% from Tk86 a year ago.
The Taka has lost value because of the US dollar shortages.
Banks also hiked the rate on Wednesday to purchase US dollars from exporters by Tk1 to Tk104, a move that is expected to give a boost to the competitiveness of exports in the international market.
Like many other countries, the taka has been under pressure against the dollar over the last one year owing to higher import payments than overall receipts from export and remittance.
As a result, the country’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen.
The reserves stood at $45.84 billion on February 22 last year but it declined to $32.44 billion on the same day this year.