The Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) and the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA) in a virtual meeting on Wednesday agreed to set the same dollar exchange rate for both remittances and export proceeds to Tk110.
During the meeting, the two organisations agreed that banks could charge Tk 110.5 for an import bill. Banks can purchase USD from customers at Tk 110 and sell it to customers at Tk 110.5.
However, banks have the option of offering an additional 2.5 per cent incentive from their own funds, but this is not mandatory. The government's 2.5 per cent incentive policy remains unchanged.
The direction will be applicable from Thursday.
Prior to this meeting, banks charged Tk 110.5 per dollar for remittances and Tk 110.5 for export proceeds, according to the rules.
ABB and BAFEDA have directed all banks to adhere to the fixed exchange rates. ABB-BAFEDA sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed this development on Wednesday evening.
On August 31, ABB and BAFEDA increased the dollar exchange rates for remittances and export proceeds by Tk 0.5 to Tk 109.5 per dollar and Tk 1 to Tk 109.5, respectively.
Banks are facing challenges in settling import bills due to the ongoing dollar crisis in the country, which began last year when the dollar market suddenly became volatile.
Last year, the dollar rate soared to a record high of Tk 122 in the kerb market. The situation worsened as banks were unable to open letters of credit (LCs) as required by businesses.
To stabilise the situation, Bangladesh Bank (BB) delegated ABB and BAFEDA the responsibility of setting different dollar exchange rates each month. These two organisations have been implementing this directive since September 2022.
However, several banks have not adhered to the exchange rates set by ABB and BAFEDA in accordance with the BB directive.
Investigations conducted by the central bank have also revealed that some banks are charging even higher rates for remittances.
Notably, BB sold over $14 billion to commercial banks in FY2022-23 for opening LCs.
