While the Bangladesh Bank fixed Tk117 as the mid-price for selling dollars, the greenback is being sold at a much higher rate of Tk125 in the kerb market, traders said.
The dollar price has witnessed a massive surge in prices today (May 9) following the introduction of the crawling peg system to determine foreign currency exchange rates yesterday.
While the Bangladesh Bank fixed Tk117 as the mid-price for selling dollars, the greenback is being sold at a much higher rate of Tk125 in the kerb market, traders said.
Despite the price surge, dollars are not available in the market as per demand, said Ripon Mia, a dollar trader in the open market.
“Dollar sellers in the open market are more interested in buying now. Everyone wants to buy cheap dollars from customers. But no trader is selling it below Tk125,” said Ripon.
He also said the situation is feared to be chaotic for a few days.
“Because everyone is watching the market now due to the sudden increase of Tk7 in a day. On Thursday, traders bought dollars from customers at a maximum rate of Tk122,” he said.
Another open market dollar trader Kabir Ahmed said even the customers have no dollars to sell now. “I’m willing to pay Tk121 per dollar if anyone’s interested in selling.”
When asked how much he would sell the dollars for, he responded, “There is no dollar to sell. The rate can be fixed later.”
