Tk102 per dollar for exporters

From Monday, businessmen will receive Tk102 per dollar for export proceeds, following a decision during a joint meeting of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association (Bafeda) on Sunday. 

Managing directors of both public and private banks joined the meeting which finalised the new rate for exporters. However, the dollar rate for remittances has been left unchanged at Tk107.  

"Banks will encash export proceeds at Tk102 from Monday," Selim RF Hussain, ABB chairman and also the managing director of Brac Bank, told The Business Standard.

On condition of anonymity, the managing director of a private bank told The Business Standard that the increase in the dollar price for export proceeds will also lead to an increase in the purchase price of dollars by banks. This is likely to cause a slight rise in the dollar price for import settlement. 

On 30 November 2022, the dollar rate for export proceeds was raised from Tk100 to Tk101, and was enforced from 4 December. 

Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has praised the rise in the dollar rate for export proceeds. 

"The exporters have to compete with many other countries. While it is difficult to increase the export volume at this stage, we are trying," he told The Business Standard. "The apparel sector will be encouraged by the increase."

However, another exporters' leader, who wished to remain anonymous, argued that the increase of Tk1 per dollar for export proceeds would not be of much benefit. 

"Though we will get Tk102 for exports, we will have to spend Tk107-Tk108 to buy the greenback for raw material imports. This means the gap will still be Tk5-Tk6. It would be good for us if it was at Tk3 max," he told The Business Standard.  

On 11 September 2022, the ABB and Bafeda at a meeting fixed the dollar rate for exporters at Tk99, as it was Tk108 for remitters.   

However, the dollar price for remittances was later reduced to Tk107 in two phases. 

On the day of the meeting, the central bank released the obligation to buy and sell dollars among the banks at the then fixed Tk95, leading to the resumption of interbank dollar exchanges.  

Subsequently, the central bank began publishing the highest and lowest rates of interbank dollar transactions on its website instead of its own dollar rates.

In October, the ABB and Bafeda raised the price of export proceeds by Tk0.50. On 6 November, export proceeds were pegged at Tk100 as it was raised by Tk1 further at the end of November.

According to an analysis of the weighted average rate of dollar purchases by 57 banks on Sunday, the minimum rate was Tk101 while the maximum Tk106.50.