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The Bangladesh Bank on Thursday warned money exchange houses that their licences would be cancelled if they manipulate the price of the US dollar.
The central bank said this in the wake of concerns that the commercial banks and money exchanges are selling the dollar at a much higher rate instead of following the one fixed by it.
The price of the US dollar soared to Tk112 in the kerb market (open market) recently while the Bangladesh Bank is trying to stabilise the exchange rate.
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Also, the commercial banks are charging Tk105 to Tk108 per dollar, Tk9 to Tk14 higher than the rate fixed by the central bank. The price charged by the banks in a single day increased by Tk7, the highest to date.
Meanwhile, 10 teams of the Bangladesh Bank, along with detectives and law enforcers, have started monitoring and collecting information on dollar transactions at money exchange houses.
The central bank will be strict in preventing volatility in the price of the dollar in the kerb market, Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson for BB, told the media Thursday.
During inspections, if the central bank's teams find any exchange house guilty of manipulating the price of the dollar, their licence will be cancelled, Serajul added.
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He said after Md Jasim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries, and nine members of his organisation met with Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder.