Bankers today hiked dollar purchase rate for the exporters in their bid to come to a unified rate for the greenback by September this year.

From July 2, the exporters will get Tk 107.5 for a US dollar, up from Tk 107, according to a circular by Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association (BAFEDA).

"Our target is to reduce the gap among dollar rates and reach to a single rate by the third quarter of this year. This is the part of that journey," said Selim RF Hussain, chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), after a joint meeting between at BAFEDA and ABB.

Other rates for the greenback will remain unchanged.

The remitters will get Tk 108.5 for a US dollar apart from the 2.5 per cent incentive given by the government.

The rate of dollar for inter-bank transaction is as much as Tk 109 for a dollar, said a senior official of a private bank seeking to remain unnamed.

Bangladesh Bank in its latest monetary policy said it would adopt a unified, market-driven exchange rate regime allowing the rates of foreign currencies to be determined by the market forces.

It targets to reach a market-driven rate for all international currencies within the third quarter this year.

Despite the increase, Debasish Singha, head of business (export) at Danish Foods Ltd, owned by Partex Star Group, said the hike in the rate of dollar for exporters will not increase competitiveness.

It will not benefit the exporters of different items such as processed foods to that extent because of the rising prices of raw materials, he said.