Published: 12:22 AM, 08 April 2026
Vested groups are conspiring to jeopardize forex market: BB
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has smelt a plot of vested groups to destabilize the exchange rate through creating artificial crisis in the forex (foreign exchange) market amid tensions in the Middle East. To defuse the plan of possible volatility, the central bank has already intensified its monitoring and vigilance activities as a vested quarter has been spreading information that the exchange rate may go up to Tk 130 per US dollar which created tensions among the bankers and business circles, according to the central bankers concerned.
The banking regulator skipped its dollar-purchasing plan to bolster forex reserves from the market to avert any unusual fluctuation in the exchange rate since the USA and Israel jointly initiated war against Iran. As a matter of fact, forex holdings by commercial banks continue to rise significantly, riding on record inflow of remittance particularly from the tension-hit Gulf Countries, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of the entire remittance inflow. According to the market players, the American greenback was traded in the interbank spot market at Tk 122.85 while the banks purchased remittance as high as Tk 123.50 per dollar. The rate of US dollar in the kerb market was recorded at 125.50 a dollar on the day.
The Asian Age correspondent talked to more than a dozen central and commercial bankers over the heating forex market situation and all of them agreed to share their views and thoughts on condition of anonymity. A BB official involved in the forex market said the BB normally buys dollars from the market when the NOP (net open position) in banks stays over 400 million. After the war against Iran, the central bank did not buy a single dollar from the market since last month. As a matter of fact, the NOP now crosses the $1.0 billion-mark. Because of the rising inflow, he said, the commercial banks' forex holdings rose to $3.90 billion in March last from February’s count of $2.40 billion.
On the other hand, the country bagged remittance amounting to $3.77 billion in March, 2026, which is the highest monthly inflow in the history of Bangladesh, he said. “So, all indicators are positive. There is no reason for local currency depreciation right at the moment. Despite the fact, the exchange rate keeps rising. There is something fishy,” he said. Another central banker said they have primary information that the pressure of forward booking for dollars keeps mounting in the commercial banks which creates artificial spikes in dollar pricing. He said they have closely been monitoring activities of some banks. “We will do the same tomorrow (Wednesday). If we find any inconsistency, we’ll send an inspection team to the banks on Thursday,” the central banker said.
The Treasury head of a state-owned commercial bank said they did not buy any dollars on Tuesday because of the higher rate as there is no pressure for dollars. “I don’t know if the rate is rising despite lower demand,” he said. He said some of the commercial banks are quoting between Tk 123.50and Tk 123.60for BC (bills for collection) for importers.
Treasury head of a private commercial bank blamed some six to eight private banks for their suspicious activities behind the artificial spikes in the dollar rate and the central bank can easily identify them monitoring their forex-purchasing movements for the last couple of days.
