Exporters would get Tk 103.5 per US dollar if they fetch their export proceeds of December and January by February this year.

The rate, which is higher than the current rate of Tk 103 per USD, would be applicable for the shipments of December and January, said Selim RF Hussain, chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), a platform for managing directors of banks.

The decision was taken recently.

On February 1, the ABB and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association (Bafeda), a platform of banks, hiked the rate for purchasing dollars from exporters by Tk 1 to Tk 103.

A central banker said the Bangladesh Bank has instructed the ABB to raise the rate of the USD for the time being to attract more foreign currencies. 

Banks started to offer multiples rates for the US dollar since the middle of September 2022 in order to contain the volatility in the foreign exchange market resulting from higher imports than exports and falling remittance earnings.

Since then, the ABB and the Bafeda have been setting exchange rates for the greenback and other foreign currencies for banks to follow, although some economists said the volatility would not subside until a unified exchange rate with a minimum gap in buying and selling rate was reached.

Foreign currency reserves fell to $32.60 billion on February 15, down from $45.66 billion a year earlier, BB data showed.