Taka loses more ground versus dollar

The taka depreciated once again against the US dollar in the inter-bank foreign exchange market today.

The exchange rate stood at Tk 94.45 per dollar. It was Tk 93.95 on Tuesday.

On July 21 last year, the exchange rate was Tk 84.80, which means the taka lost 11.38 per cent value in a year.

The country's foreign exchange market is facing a shortage of US dollars due to rising import payments and declining remittance.

Import payments have gone up since the end of last year because of the rising prices of commodities in the global market.

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Dhaka stocks fall after short-lived upward movement

Between July and May of the last fiscal year, imports went up by 39 per cent year-on-year to $75.40 billion, while exports grew 33 per cent to $44.58 billion.

This resulted in a record trade deficit -- the gap between export and import -- of $30.81 billion, up 48.8 per cent year-on-year.

Remittance, the cheapest source of foreign currencies for Bangladesh, fell 15 per cent year-on-year to $21.03 billion in 2021-22.

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves stood at $39.67 billion on Wednesday in contrast to $46.15 billion in December last year.

Today, the central bank injected $70 million to keep the market stable, Md Serajul Islam, spokesperson for the Bangladesh Bank, told The Daily Star.