The inconsistency over the fixing of the value of the dollar has become public. As a result, the value of the dollar is being changed repeatedly. It is being canceled or postponed with various decisions. The latest thing happened in the meeting of top executives of banks Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) and Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA), the organization of foreign exchange trading banks. The meeting was held at Sonali Bank last Sunday night.
It is known that in the meeting held by Bangladesh Bank with ABB and BAFEDA on October 31, it was decided that high-income expatriate professionals will be paid Tk 107 for every dollar if they send their income through the bank. Earlier they used to get 99 taka 50 paisa. At the same time, the banks will not take any charge or fee to collect expatriate income. Besides, the banks can sell surplus dollars to each other at the price of 107 taka 50 paisa. Deputy Governor Ahmed Jamal and Kazi Chaidur Rahman were present on behalf of the Central Bank in that meeting.
The leaders of ABB and BAFEDA sat in a meeting yesterday to implement this decision. Afzal Karim, chairman of BAFEDA and managing director of Sonali Bank, informed that Bangladesh Bank has asked to postpone the decision on the dollar price of income sent by high-income expatriate professionals. Apart from this, dollars cannot be sold to other banks at the price of 107 taka 50 paisa. Other bankers present at the meeting were shocked to hear such a decision. ABB is headed by private banks and BAFEDA is headed by MDs of public sector banks.
over fixing the dollar price
At the end of yesterday’s meeting, BAFEDA Chairman Afzal Karim told reporters that to facilitate remittance of expatriate income, banks’ own exchange houses in foreign countries will be kept open even on closed days. Expatriates will not be charged any fee for sending remittances from their own exchange houses. And the price of the dollar has been increased by 50 paise to 100 rupees in export earnings.