Steep fall in taka, dollar price jumps to Tk 117

The Bangladesh Bank has set the dollar price at Tk 117 under a new exchange rate system, with immediate effect. The previous exchange rate of dollars was Tk 110 as per a unified price exchange rate system.

In a circular on Wednesday, the banking sector regulator announced the introduction of a crawling peg exchange rate system for spot purchases and sales of US dollars.

The new system allows the exchange rate for limited fluctuations within a predefined range. It falls between the floating and fixed exchange rates.  

“Under this system, a crawling peg mid rate (CPMR) has been set at Tk 117.00 per US dollar with immediate effect,” it noted. 

The circular further said the scheduled banks can purchase and sell US dollars freely around the CPMR with their customers and in interbank deals.

While announcing the monetary policy for the second half of the current fiscal in January, the central bank disclosed its intention for introduction of the crawling peg method to determine the currency exchange rate. 

Earlier, the Bangladesh Bank moved away from a floating exchange rate after a long period and introduced a unified foreign exchange rate on 3 September as per the guidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).