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Traders are struggling to collect dollars for importing products. The cost of buying dollars from the bank is from 118 taka to 126 taka. But the highest rate of dollar has been set at 111 taka. Costs are increasing due to import of goods by buying dollars at higher rates.
Due to this, the price of the product is also increasing. Consumers are affected by this. According to the decision of Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA), the maximum price of the dollar has been fixed at Tk 111. But in reality, dollars are not available anywhere at this rate.
Paying from 118 taka to 126 taka per dollar. And as the reason for this, bankers said that they have to spend 118 to 119 taka to collect remittance based on competition.
And if the dollar is collected at a higher price and not sold at a higher price, the bank will face losses. So banks are selling dollars at higher prices to avoid losses. Because of this, the volatility in the dollar market is not decreasing.
The people concerned said that the highest rates for collecting remittances from abroad were set by the apex organization of bankers, Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA). It was said that the banks will pay the maximum price of 110 taka 50 paisa for collecting remittances. Apart from the banks
Can give 2.5 percent incentive from own funds. As such, the banks can pay the maximum dollar price of remittance up to 113 taka. But most of the banks do not accept this rate.
Bankers said that ABB and BAFEDA set the dollar rate under the direct guidance of Bangladesh Bank to bring order to the foreign exchange market. In this case, the Central Bank has been requested several times by the two organizations to take action against the banks which disobey this decision.
The central bank had already taken action against 10 banks for collecting remittances at rates higher than the prescribed rates. Due to this strict stance of the central bank, there is a major negative impact on the foreign exchange market. This reduces remittance flow. The foreign exchange reserves also decrease.
Banks are clamoring for dollars. Many banks approached Bangladesh Bank as they could not pay their outstanding LC liabilities. But the bankers said that no private bank has cooperated with the central bank due to the decrease in reserves. Forced to disobey the decision of ABB and Buffeta, most of the banks collect remittances at high prices. In this case, the central bank pretends not to see much.
The people concerned said that some are collecting remittance at a low price, while others are collecting remittance at a high rate. Those who are collecting remittances at higher rates are selling dollars to consumers at higher rates. And those who are collecting remittances at low rates are selling dollars at low rates. Instead of stabilizing the foreign exchange market, chaos has arisen. It increases the import cost of products.
At the same time, inflation is increasing. On the other hand, some banks have fallen into trouble while complying with the rules. The dollar is in crisis as they lag behind in collecting remittances. Unable to supply dollars according to customer demand. Aggrieved bankers urged the Central Bank to take effective action in this regard.
However, according to a source related to Bangladesh Bank, the target was to have a net reserve of $19.26 billion set for March to receive the third installment of the IMF’s $4.7 billion loan package.
But it was about $4 billion less than that. Because of this, Bangladesh Bank had an indirect but not direct support to collect remittances at higher prices to increase the inflow of foreign currency, especially dollars. Because, Bangladesh Bank also wants more amount of remittance to come to the country. And that’s why the Central Bank is not taking any action against the banks even though they collect remittances at higher prices.
According to the information received from the banks, the remittance flow decreased before Eid. One of the reasons for this was the low rate of remittance collection. And this is why banks have to spend up to 116-117 taka to buy remittance dollars after Eid.
At least 10-12 banks are collecting remittance dollars at this rate. Whereas in the second week of March, the dollar price of remittances fell from 112.5 to 113 rupees. However, at the end of February, banks were offering up to 120-122 rupees for remittance dollars.
Remittance has to be collected at high cost. And because of this, it is being sold at a higher price. The highest price is charged in the case of corporate dealings. And in this corporate dealing, a customer will need dollars after 15 days.
Demand letters of advance dollars are given from the banks to meet the import liabilities. And for this every dollar has to be charged some additional price which is known as premium in banking language. And while collecting dollars in this method, buyers have to spend 126 to 128 taka per dollar.
And thus the cost of import is increasing, so the price of the product is also increasing. Which has an impact at the consumer level. Those concerned think that the central bank needs to take strong steps to overcome this situation.
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