Dollar endorsement fee on passports set at Tk 300 maximum.

 Anuj Ahmed, AA Economic Correspondent:  BangladeshBank has announced that banks are now authorized to charge a maximum fee of Tk300 for adding a dollar endorsement to passports for international travel. Noadditional fees will be charged for passport endorsements beyond this amount.The Central Bank set this charge on Sunday, May 18.

BangladeshBank issued a circular in this respect on Saturday (May 17), which was sent tothe chief executives of commercial banks. The circular stated that thisinstruction would take effect immediately.

Accordingto a central bank announcement, scheduled banks offer varying rates forpassport endorsement fees and charges, as well as additional service fees orcommissions when selling foreign currency. The higher costs discourage clientsfrom purchasing foreign currency from banks.

For thisreason, a passport endorsement charge has been introduced for the first time toencourage the purchase of foreign currency through legal channels.