Banks sell dollar at more than Tk 118 as pressure mounts

Most banks in Bangladesh are quoting more than Tk 118 per US dollar, which is above the official exchange rate as per the crawling peg system, said bankers and businesspeople. The Bangladesh Bank introduced the new system to manage exchange rates on May 8 in line with the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with its $4.7 billion loan programme. Under the system, a crawling peg mid-rate was set at Tk 117 per US dollar. However, banks are quoting up to Tk 120 per US dollar to open letters of credit. The exchange rate is more than Tk 118 per dollar in the case of collecting remittance and export bills. As such, banks are unofficially quoting at least Tk 118 per greenback, thereby raising the interbank exchange rate. The official interbank exchange rate stood at Tk 117.80 on Tuesday, up from Tk 117.50 a week earlier, central bank data showed. The rate was Tk 110 on May 8. Before the launch of the crawling peg, banks quoted Tk 118 to Tk 122 per US dollar even though the official exchange rate was Tk 110. The reserves have fallen by $24 billion since August 2021. On Wednesday, the gross international reserves stood at $18.42 billion, enough to pay for imports for over three and a half months.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/banks-sell-dollar-more-tk-118-pressure-mounts-3616351

Visa’s digital payments rise 25% during Ramadan 2024

Global digital payments leader Visa has achieved over 25 percent growth in digital payments during Ramadan of 2024, particularly through cards, and nearly 70 percent of it came through ecommerce. The parallel growth of credit and debit card use underscores the confidence and trust people place in Visa, he said. During Ramadan, retail spends picked up pace with consumers exercising their purchasing power and paying through both debit and credit cards. Visa Consulting & Analytics shared that during the holy period of Ramadan in 2024, people transacted more online as compared to in-store shopping. This year, the share of ecommerce in overall spends rose by 6 percentage points over 2023, with Visa cardholders spending most on travel, education and utilities.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/visas-digital-payments-rise-25-during-ramadan-2024-3616151

Agriculture credit disbursement rises

Agriculture credit disbursements in Bangladesh grew 12.46 percent year-on-year to Tk 23,690 crore in the July-February period of the current fiscal year, central bank data showed. The government has set the farm loan disbursement target at Tk 355,000 crore for 2023-24, up 13.60 percent from the year prior, as per the central bank’s monthly report on agriculture and rural finance. This year’s target is 6.61 percent higher than the actual disbursements made in 2022-23. But with Tk 23,690 crore lent so far, 67.69 percent of the disbursement goal has already been achieved. According to the agricultural credit programme of the Bangladesh Bank, state-owned commercial banks have been given a target to allocate Tk 3,280 crore in FY24 while state-owned specialised lenders have been asked to lend Tk 8,750 crore. The allocation target for private commercial banks has been set at Tk 21,923 crore while it is Tk 1,047 crore for foreign commercial banks.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/agriculture-credit-disbursement-rises-3615581

Lending through agent banking rises 41%

Loan disbursement through agent banking outlets rose by a massive 41.27 percent year-on-year as of March this year mainly thanks to the easy processing system, low transaction cost and comparatively lower interest rates. The country’s 15,835 agents handed over Tk 16,482.5 crore agent banking loans as of March this year, up from Tk 11,667 crore in March last year, according to Bangladesh Bank’s January-March quarterly report on agent banking. Deposits through the 2.2 crore agent banking accounts, around four-fifths of which belong to people in rural areas, hit Tk 36,810 crore at the end of the third month of 2024, up from around Tk 31,641.5 crore in March 2023. Meanwhile, agent banking accounts received Tk 149,916 crore worth of inward remittance as of March this year, posting growth of 23 percent year-on-year, and around 90.22 percent of the total went to the rural population. In the January-March quarter, the amount of inward remittance rose by 4.75 percent over the December 2023 quarter. The loan to deposit ratio in agent banking was only 44.7 percent in the January-March quarter of 2024, up from the previous quarter’s 42.38 percent. As of this March, around 57.61 percent of the deposits were made in male customers’ agent banking accounts and 35.71 percent female.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/lending-through-agent-banking-rises-41-3614751

Chinese company to invest $22.92 million in Bepza EZ

Chinese company Sanxin Accessories MFC BD Ltd will invest $22.92 million to set up an interlining and garment accessories unit at the Bepza economic zone of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) in Chattogram. The company plans to produce interlining, lace, TC pocketing and printing, granule and hot melt adhesive powder at the unit. The investment will generate employment opportunities for about 2,346 people.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/chinese-company-invest-2292-million-bepza-ez-3615371

City Bank’s offshore unit bags $21m foreign deposits in two months

Since the new offshore banking law was passed in March, City Bank has managed to build offshore deposits of nearly $21 million, while others, although unable to secure any deposits yet, are working to promote their offshore banking products. To promote their offshore banking products, four banks, including City Bank, will participate in a programme in New York on 24 May. Out of 52 banks, only five banks designed offshore deposit products and listed them on their websites. They are offering a maximum 8.57% interest rate against offshore deposits in dollars and above 7% in euro when the global interest rate benchmark SOFR is nearly 5.5% for dollars and less than 4% for euro. Foreign deposit is one of the components in the financial account, which turned negative $2.7 billion in FY23 due to huge withdrawal by depositors after the Federal Reserve raised interest rate. This contributed to widening of the deficit in the financial account to above $9 billion in July-March of FY24.

Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/city-banks-offshore-unit-bags-21m-foreign-deposits-two-months-856271