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Bangladesh Taka, India Rupee Appreciate Marginally Against U.S. Dollar

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 10:05

Bangladesh Taka (BDT) and Indian Rupee appreciated marginally against the U.S. dollar in the last two weeks as the inflow of the foreign currency increased in the markets, treasury officials said on Sunday.

The BDT appreciated by 0.19 percent against the U.S. currency during the period while the Indian Rupee gained by 0.77 percent against the greenback, they added.

 

The U.S. dollar was quoted at BDT 69.24 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on Sunday against BDT 69.37 two weeks back, the treasury officials said, adding that the Indian Rupee was traded at Rs 46.08 on Friday against Rs 46.44 on February 14 this year.

"The local currency has appreciated slightly against the U.S. dollar due mainly to an increase in the flow of inward remittances and the less demand for the greenback to settle import payments," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN Media in Dhaka.

He also said the central bank was watching the country's inter-bank foreign exchange market closely to keep it stable.

"We bought $10 million from a commercial bank at a rate of BDT 69.34 on Thursday aiming to keep the forex market stable," another BB official said.

He also said the central bank took the move to keep the rate of the local currency stable against the greenback, which is essential for keeping the inflow of remittances and export earnings intact.

The country received a total of $361.96 million in remittances during last February 1 to February 11 and the flow was likely to cross $800 million by the end of the month, the central bank official said.

The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $950.92 million in January last, an 8.81 per cent growth from that of the previous month, according to the central bank statistics.