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Taka gains against dollar

Sajjadur Rahman
The taka has finally gained against the US dollar, thanks to tightening imports and a rise in inflow of remittances.
The local currency rose by 0.41 percent against the greenback in inter-bank foreign exchange in the past week, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Data shows a dollar was sold at Tk 84.13 on the inter-bank market yesterday, down by 35 paisa from Tk 84.48 on January 29.
“The taka has turned around against the US dollar and the trend is likely to continue this month,” said Sayedur Rahman, general manager, foreign exchange and treasury management department of the central bank.
BB officials said pressure on the dollar has eased due to a fall in demand amid an increase in supply.
“A reduction in import payments and a rise in remittance
inflow have increased the supply of the dollar in the domestic market in recent days,” said AFM Asaduzzaman, general manager, governor secretariat of the BB, in a statement issued yesterday.
The country's foreign exchange reserve also rose to $9.53 billion, the highest since January 9.
The improvement has also impacted the kerb market, where a dollar was selling between Tk 84.20 andTk 84.70 yesterday from Tk 87 a few days ago, the BB said.
Treasury officials of a number of private banks also hinted that the taka would gain further in the coming days, mainly because of the central bank's rigid stance on imports.
“No banks want to open letters of credit for luxury items. The opening of LC went down significandy in December and January,” said a treasury official of a private commercialbank.
Dollar price at the import level (bills for collections) went down 17
paisa yesterday than the previous working day.
According to Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association, the average price of a dollar was Tk 84.73 yesterday for import payments, from Tk 84.90 on Thursday and Tk 85.50 in the middle of last month.
“I hope the taka will gain by 10 paisa today (Tuesday),” said another treasury official.
The taka had been depreciating against the dollar since August 2010, losing nearly 15 percent of its value between September 2011 and January 2012, which hit hard the consumers with inflationary pressure.
Though treasury officials can breathe a sigh of relief for a fall in demand for the dollar, some say taka appreciation could discourage remitters to send money through formal channels.
sajjad@thedailystar.net