Banks settle LCs at Tk99 as dollar soars again
Banks on Wednesday settled LCs at Tk99 or higher per US dollar as they bought the greenback from exchange houses at rates ranging from Tk98.50 to Tk99.
On Tuesday, the Bangladesh Bank increased the interbank exchange rate of the dollar to Tk93.45.
Serajul Islam, a spokesman and an executive director of the Bangladesh Bank, said the central bank sold $22 million to banks on Wednesday.
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About $1.5 billion has been sold from reserves so far this June and the country's foreign exchange reserves have fallen below $42 billion due to continued dollar sales.
The head of the treasury department of a private bank told The Business Standard that now most banks are buying dollars from exchange houses as the pressure of LC payments has increased recently. It has pushed up the demand for dollars further.
However, banks are in trouble as the Bangladesh Bank had earlier verbally prohibited banks from charging more than the fixed rate for dollars.
Those who want to trade dollars at the price fixed by the central bank are not able to buy dollars from the kerb market. As a result, most banks are buying dollars at higher prices to avoid payment defaults.
Meanwhile, the dollar depreciated slightly on Tuesday but rose again on Wednesday in the kerb market.
