Bangladesh Bank’s move to reduce its foreign currency spending has resulted in a measure of stability returning to the market, following a period of freefall in taka’s exchange rate over the last four months. The central bank recently introduced a series of regulatory measures to rein in the indiscipline taking hold in the currency market, that long operated as a sort of ‘Wild Wild West’ in the state’s regulatory apparatus – largely unbound. The volatile forex market has regained a sense of stability following implementation of the measures, that were both punitive and policy-based in nature.  The value of the US dollar, against which taka is pegged, stood at Tk 95 (the interbank rate) and between Tk 98-100 in the kerb market, where at one point it had reached a dizzying Tk 120 per US dollar over the summer. The new regulatory measures have mostly been implemented under Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, who only took over after joining as Bangladesh Bank Governor on July 12, 2022, has taken measures to bring the activities of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) under strict monitoring. He formed several teams led by deputy governors for inspection and monitoring of banks and NBFI activities. Read: Individuals can’t hold foreign currencies more than $10,000: BB Despite the central bank guidelines and instructions, several banks have been defying the rules of foreign trade, be it during LC opening, dollar trading, and even spending of forex through credit cards. Against this backdrop, Bangladesh Bank asked 27 banks to explain unusual instances of forex spending. The central bank found such excessive spending under 71 credit cards issued by the banks. The size of the transactions each range from USD $12,500 to $20,000. Bangladesh Bank spokesperson and Executive Director Sirajul Islam told UNB that the banks have been asked to explain the irregularities. He said that there is a $12,500 spending limit on each card. But a review by Bangladesh Bank revealed that many banks have allowed far greater sums to be transacted above this limit. According to the Foreign Exchange Control Act, a person can spend a maximum of $12,000 worth of foreign exchange per year. If anyone wants to spend more, in sectors including medical treatment and education, he/she must secure the central bank’s approval in advance. Earlier, credit facility for the import of some products was taken away, the margin rate has been increased. In one of the most talked-about moves that caused quite a stir in the country’s financial sector, the Treasury chiefs of six private sector banks  - 5 domestic, and the multinational Standard Chartered Bank - have been removed from duties for making unusual profits from selling dollars. Show-cause notices were served to the managing directors of these banks. Later, Bangladesh Bank fixed a ceiling of Taka 1 profit per dollar to bring stability in the foreign currency market. In further such measures, on August 31, the central bank issued a notification that individuals cannot hold on to $10,000 for more than a month. Whoever happens to be in possession now of an amount exceeding the limit has been asked to sell the balance by September 30 – otherwise, they risk facing legal action. Professor Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the private think tank CPD, told UNB that the central bank has taken the right measures by curbing dollar spending. He said that it is possible to save around one-third of forex reserves by tightening unusual spending on imports and other sectors.

With the Covid-19 situation worsening around the world by the day, the global death toll from the virus surpassed 3.7 million on Saturday. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count and fatalities currently stand at 172,449,514 and  3,708,280, respectively. Besides, a total of 2,043,089,118 vaccine doses have been administered across the world to date, as per the university data. READ: Global Covid cases near 172 million The US, which remains the world’s worst-hit hit country in terms of deaths and cases, has so far logged 33,343,073 cases and 597,001 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. Brazil on Friday registered 1,454 new deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, raising the total tally to 470,842, the health ministry said. A total of 37,936 new infections were detected during the period, pushing up the country's total caseload to 16,841,408, the ministry said. Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India. The pandemic continues to ravage India. The neighbouring country registered 132,364 new Covid cases on Friday, the federal health ministry said. India's Covid tally currently stands at 28,574,350, according to the ministry. Besides, 2,713 deaths have been reported since Wednesday morning, raising the nationwide death toll to 340,702. Situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh on Friday logged 1,887 new cases in 24 hours, after health authorities tested 18,151 samples. The fresh cases has raised the country's total case count to 807,867.  Also, the daily infection rate rose to 10.40% from Thursday's 9.94%, while the mortality rate remained static at 1.58%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). READ: Global Covid cases top 171 million   Meanwhile, the country confirmed 34 more deaths during the same period, pushing up the fatality figures to 12,758. Lockdown in districts Due to the recent rise in Covid infections in frontier districts, authorities have imposed lockdown in Rajshahi, Khulna, Satkhira and parts of Naogaon districts to curb the transmission of the virus. The district administrations have been given the authority to enforce lockdown in areas under their jurisdiction if the Covid-19 situation worsens. Vaccination drive Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses bought from India's Serum Institute. READ: Global Covid cases top 172 million So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got emergency use authorisation in the country. However, the country, the prime recipient of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India. IEDCR study Delta, the coronavirus variant first found in India, turned out to be 80% of some 50 genomes sequenced in Bangladesh since May 16 by IEDCR. There is also evidence of community transmission of the variant, according to research jointly carried out by IEDCR and IDSHI. The study also identified one "unknown variant" and found eight of the samples  (16%) to be infected with the South African variant. IEDCR and IDSHI collected and analysed 50 samples from across the country, including border districts and the capital since May 16. The research also found 40 out of the total 50 cases as Delta variant, known as Indian variant, in samples collected from Chapainawabganj, Gopalganj, Khulna, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Bagerhat, Jhenaidah and Pirojpur.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 26,289,290 with 257,299 new cases registered in the past 24 hours, said the federal Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday. A total of 4,194 deaths were recorded since Friday morning, taking the death toll to 295,525. The single-day deaths have once again peaked beyond the 4,000-mark for the past two days after declining to 3,874 on Thursday. There are still 2,923,400 active cases in the country, a decrease of 104,525 in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases has been on the decline over the past few days, after a continuous surge since mid-April. A total of 23,070,365 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals so far across the country. Most of the states in the country have imposed night curfews and partial or complete lockdowns. So far over 193 million vaccination doses have been administered to the people across the country, and a total of 1,458,895 vaccine doses were given on Friday alone. Read: India’s Covid-19 hot spots on recovery road Presently the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination is underway, covering all people aged 18 years and above. Meanwhile, the federal government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities. As many as 326,484,155 tests have been conducted till Friday, out of which 2,066,285 tests were conducted on Friday alone, said the Indian Council of Medical Research on Saturday. Three types of vaccines are being administered to people in India, including the Covishield, the Covaxin and the Russia-made Sputnik-V.