Chinese yuan can be traded via RTGS from 4 Feb
Many other kinds of interbank transactions take hours and, sometimes days, to settle. RTGS allows real-time settlement of foreign currency transactions at a maximum Tk100
Like most established foreign currencies, the Chinese currency yuan can also be exchanged at the interbank level from 4 February through a specialised online platform for rapid and large transactions, the Bangladesh Bank announced on Thursday.
The platform dubbed Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is already used for interbank exchanges of foreign currencies like the US dollar, British pound, euro, Japanese yen, and Canadian dollar. The service allows a bank to procure a large amount of a specific foreign currency from another bank in a maximum of 30 seconds.
Many other kinds of interbank transactions take hours and, sometimes days, to settle. RTGS allows real-time settlement of foreign currency transactions at a maximum Tk100.
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Launched on 4 September 2022 in the country, all the 11,000 branches of commercial banks use the service.
The Bangladesh Bank has stipulated that only one type of currency can be traded at a time at the interbank level using the RTGS service. So, for example, the pound can be exchanged only with the pound.
There is no limit on the amount of foreign currency that can be exchanged at a time, the central bank has said.
Commercial banks have to follow the Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transaction while using RTGS services. A foreign currency account has to be opened first with clear specification of the account type, the central bank said.
