FROM PAGE B1

Some banks yesterday sold each dollar for up to Tk 107, meaning that they are still not following the banking norms.

A treasury official of a bank, on condition of anonymity, said it was not possible for any lender to follow the interbank rate due to the scarcity of the greenback in the market.

The taka lost its value by 11.6 per cent against the dollar in the interbank market over the past year. Each dollar traded at Tk 95 on the platform yesterday.

Had the platform been free of the central bank’s intervention, the exchange rate would have been much higher as it would have been determined by demand and supply.

Selim RF Hussain, chairman of the ABB, said both Bafeda and the ABB would arrange a meeting in a day or two to decide on ways to keep the exchange rate stable.

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of Mutual Trust Bank, said banks had discussed at a meeting with the central bank on ways of making a market-driven exchange rate effective. “A positive development will emerge in the quickest possible time,” he said.

Mashrur Arefin, vice chairman of the ABB, said the ABB and Bafeda would work to create a market-driven exchange rate under the guidance of the central bank.

The volatility in the market has had an adverse impact on the country’s foreign exchange reserves due to rising import payments.

The reserves stood at less than $39 billion yesterday in contrast to $46.19 billion in September last year.