The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has sought explanations from the managing directors (MD) of six more banks over their alleged involvement in making unusual profits from US dollar trading.
The six banks are Bank Asia, National Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank, United Commercial Bank (UCB), Mercantile Bank, Dhaka Bank and HSBC Bank.
BB Executive Director and spokesperson Md Serajul Islam said that these banks will have to submit their explanations within the next five working days.
The central bank has also asked the six banks not to transfer their profits from foreign exchange businesses between January and May to their income accounts. The profits must be kept in a separate account, he said.
Last month, BB sought explanations from the MDs of seven banks over their involvement in making unusual profits from US dollar trading.
They were Dutch-Bangla Bank, Southeast Bank, Prime Bank, City Bank, Brac Bank, Eastern Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.
At that time, BB also asked six banks to transfer their treasury heads to human resource departments because of their alleged involvement in destabilising the country's foreign exchange market.
Earlier, the central bank had found that Bank Asia, NCC Bank, Dhaka Bank, Mercantile Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, UCB, Eastern Bank, Islami Bank, City Bank, Prime Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank and Brac Bank made excessive gains through dollar trading in the first six months of this year.
Bank Asia, a private commercial bank, has registered the highest 770 per cent year-on-year growth in its profit from dollar trading.
The foreign exchange market is still unstable because importers are now spending Tk 106-107 per dollar to pay their import bills, while the inter-bank exchange rate is Tk 95.
Amid this volatile situation in the forex market, the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association are going to sit with BB on Thursday, seeking measures from it for a uniform exchange rate.
