Dollar rate for remittance further falls to Tk117

The dollar rate for remittance has further dropped to Tk117 on Monday, a Tk2-3 decrease from Sunday, bank officials said.

With the latest drop, the dollar rate for remittance has decreased by Tk7-8 in recent days following a meeting between the central bank governor and member banks of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association (Bafeda) on Thursday.

Banks collected remittance dollars at the highest rate of Tk124 last Thursday.

At the meeting with managing directors of 21 banks, the central bank directed banks to collect remittance dollars at a maximum rate of Tk116 including incentives from the government and banks' own funds.

Exchange houses have offered lower dollar prices to remitters since Sunday morning. 

Central bank fixes dollar rates for open market

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bank has fixed the dollar rates for the open market, popularly known as kerb market.

According to the central bank's instruction, dollars can be sold at a rate of Tk117 and bought at Tk115.50 in the open market.

The regulator's intervention has decreased the price of the greenback in the open market as well. 

However, the rate still hovers higher than the central bank fixed rates.

From Monday morning, money changers bought dollars at the rate of Tk125 and sold them at the rate of Tk125.50, sources said.

Cash dollar price in both open and kerb markets reached a record high at Tk128, on Thursday.

Several money changers in Motijheel and Dilkusha areas of the capital said it is not possible to buy dollars at the price set by the central bank.

"If we can't buy dollars at a lower price, how will we sell them at the price fixed by the central bank," a businessman told The Business Standard on condition of anonymity.

Murad Hasan, owner of Dohar Money Changer in Dilkusha, told TBS, "We have a shortage of cash dollars. Customers are not getting cash dollars in banks. So, our demand for cash dollars here has increased a lot. However, we are failing to supply dollars accordingly.