LC opening, settlement both fall

The opening and settlement of letters of credit (LCs) in Bangladesh fell 26.80 per cent and 8.15 per cent year-on-year in the July-April period of the current financial year. LC opening stood at $56.36 billion in the first 10 months of 2022-23, down from $76.99 billion a year ago. The settlement fell to $62.39 billion from $67.93 billion during the period, said the Bangladesh Bank in its monthly update on major economic indicators. The fresh opening of import LCs fell by 26.80 per cent in July-April as a result of the close monitoring.  The central bank has taken moves to curb the imports of non-essential and luxury items in order to stop the erosion of the foreign currency reserves. Owing to higher commodity prices in the global market, the forex reserve has fallen by about 28 per cent in the past one year, falling to $30.35 billion on May 10 this year from $41.95 billion on the same day last year.  The opening of LC for consumer goods fell 18.19 per cent to $6.68 billion while the settlement declined by 11.70 per cent to $6.62 billion. Importers opened LCs worth $4.49 billion for intermediate goods in July-April, a decrease of 31.39 per cent from a year ago. The settlement dropped 24 per cent to $4.54 billion.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/lc-opening-settlement-both-fall-3322056

Per capita income rises in taka, falls in dollar

The country’s per capita income dropped in US dollar value, but in Bangladeshi taka the amount rose by Tk 29,367 in 2022-23 thanks to the exchange rate fluctuations. The per capita income was Tk 241,047 in 2021-22, which was estimated to increase to Tk 270,414 in 2022-23, according to the provisional projection of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). However, per capita income dropped by $28 in the US dollar value to $2,765 from the previous year’s $2,793. Due to the depreciation of the local currency, the per capita income rose in Bangladeshi taka. The taka depreciated 24 per cent to Tk 107.8 in the last one year, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/global-economy/news/capita-income-rises-taka-falls-dollar-3322041

Interbank dollar rate rises to Tk108.50

Within a week, the interbank exchange rate for dollars rose from Tk108 to Tk108.50, which is the highest in the country’s history. The rate at which one bank sells dollars to another bank is called the interbank exchange rate. According to central bank data, the dollar traded at the lowest rate of Tk107.26 and highest rate of Tk108.50 on Monday. Earlier on 7 May, the dollar rate rose to Tk108 in interbank exchange. This was the highest dollar rate in this market till day. Bankers said the interbank dollar rate has increased mainly due to the increase in remittance rates. Banks do not have enough dollars to sell. Due to the dollar crisis, they have reduced the opening of import letters of credit. So banks are now doing interbank dollar transactions on request from other banks. Currently, an average of $1.5-2 million is transacted on this platform every day.

Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/interbank-dollar-rate-rises-tk10850-632962