The price of US dollars jumped to Tk 120 in the kerb market on Wednesday amid persistent short supply of the greenback against the growing demand from importers and those going abroad for education and medical treatment.  The new unofficial kerb market rate of dollars was higher by Tk 20 to 25 than its official exchange rate against Bangladesh currency fixed by Bangladesh Bank. The greenback maintained its upward trend despite the central bank’s recent steps to punish six major private banks and 10 money exchange houses for irregularities in trading of US dollars. Read: BB warns exchange houses against manipulation of dollar price  Last Monday the dollars sold in the kerb market at Tk116.60. Riding on high demand after Ashura holiday Wednesday, the price soared up to Tk 120, traders said. On Wednesday Abu Taher, a small businessman, went to the kerb market in Dilkusha to buy dollars he needed for his business trip abroad. The high price chased him away. “The price has been beyond my means,” he told UNB. “I’ll wait to see if it comes down.”  Read Amid growing demand, banks sell dollar at Tk99 Taher said he offered to buy dollars at Tk 117, but there was no taker. While the soaring price has been attributed to short supply some traders blame it also on syndicates which manipulate the rate. Some syndicates which hold the dollars until if they get the desired price are partly to blame for the crisis, said Osman Goni, a vendor at the kerb market.  Read Dollar price decreases in kerb market, after a hefty raise

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. Also read: BB asks banks to cut power use 25 pc, energy 20 pc in a year 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. Also read: Dollar price jumps to Tk 105 in kerb market, amid BB’s move to stable it 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.

Banks are selling US dollars for import payment at Tk98 to 99 which is the highest exchange rate of dollars ever in the banking channel. Though the Bangladesh Bank (BB) is selling US dollars at Tk92.95 to the scheduled banks, the banks are selling dollars higher at Tk 3-4. But banks are receiving US dollars as remittance atTk 97 while the same US dollar is being sold for import payment at Tk98-99. Also read: BB selling US dollar at Tk 92.5 after further devaluation Earlier in May, the exchange rate of dollars had crossed Tk100 in the kerb (open) market. Now in the case of bank transactions, the price is touching Tk100. Earlier, the dollar exchange rate in the banking sector rose to a maximum of Tk96. Bangladesh Bank is not able to decide what to do with the dollar rate. Once the dollar price limit was set, it was lifted again. Although in reality the exchange rate of the dollar has gone up. However, the central bank is supplying US dollars to banks as per requirement and around $7.5 billion is sold to banks to make the exchange rate of dollars stable. Md Serajul Islam, Executive Director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, said, “The open market economy now relies on market situation. Due to increased domestic consumption, imports are under more pressure compared to exports.” Also read: BB allows floating exchange rate of US dollar amid pressure In such a situation banks are unable to meet the growing demand of forex, this is why dollar price has increased a bit, he said. With Covid-19 pandemic easing, the demand for commodities has increased sharply. The Russia-Ukraine war also fuelled the price hike of commodities in the global market due to disruption of supply chain.

The prices of US dollar against Bangladesh currency fell by Tk 5 in the kerb (open) market on Thursday after a hefty raise of forex, amid a rush of imports to meet the demand following easing of Covid pandemic. Bangladesh Bank has, meanwhile, tightened regulations to curb imports of unnecessary and luxury items and added provision of including container and shipping tracking system with the import bills, to protect trade based money laundering in disguise of fake import orders.  Money exchange houses in the areas of Dilkusha commercial area (banks’ zone), Baitul Mukarram, Palton and Gulshan said that they sold one US dollar at Tk 97 to Tk 98 on Thursday. The exchange houses sold per US dollar at Tk102 two day earlier on Tuesday, despite the higher price there remained a shortage of the greenback in kerb markets. Also Read: Despite taka depreciating, banks selling dollars at Tk3-4 extra Anwar Hossain, operating a money exchange for 22 years told UNB that the price of US dollar is not stable yet. He said Bangladesh Bank’s policy is impacting the kerb market to reduce the demand of forex. However, the US dollar exchange rate in the banks has remained unchanged between Tk 93 to Tk 96 for opening LCs. Though the central bank fixed the US dollar exchange rate at Tk 87.50 on Monday this week, banks are selling dollars at a higher rate due to the forex supply crisis. Md. Serajul Islam, Executive Director and spokesman said forex market becomes unstable due to rush of import. Gradually the forex market will be normal and bring a balance on import and export, he said.  

The exchange rate for the US dollar in the open or kerb market has crossed Tk 90 for the first time ever, worrying Bangladeshis looking to travel abroad and pushing up the prices of some imported goods. The businesses expressed concern as the dollar price is fluctuating and it also influences the jump in the US dollar price in the banking channel also. According to Bangladesh Bank (BB), the interbank dollar exchange rate on Sunday was Tk 85.70, whereas it was Tk85.60 on Thursday. Read:China goods, services trade surplus tops 60b US dollars On the other hand, different money exchange houses were selling the greenback at Tk 90.10 on Sunday, which is the highest ever. Business leaders said the dollar price fluctuation is creating uncertainty among the businesses as they cannot be sure what the price of goods they are looking to import would be in 5-10 days. A former governor of BB, wishing anonymity, told UNB that the dollar price has jumped recently due to two reasons: firstly, increased travel abroad for different needs including study, health and entertainment following the COVID-19 restrictions being eased, or lifted around the world. Secondly, increased capital flight from Bangladesh. Giving an example, the former governor said that some recent incidents of banking- and e-commerce-related scams hint at the increased capital flight from Bangladesh. Economists said that Bangladesh’s economy remains on the right track and there is no reason to be worried as such fluctuations in the exchange rate happen sometimes. Former adviser to a caretaker government Dr. Mirza ABM Azizul Islam said that import demand has increased in the post-lockdown time as the industrial production shows a rising trend. The price increase of LNG and petroleum products in the global market is also another cause to raise the dollar demand as Bangladesh uses USD to meet all kinds of import payments, he said. Read: E-commerce has a billion-dollar market: Tipu Munshi