Market-based interest rate, unified exchange rate from July: BB

Bangladesh Bank will be returning to market-based interest rate from July with the announcement of the next half-yearly monetary policy statement, which will cover the first six months of the 2023-24 fiscal. 

The central bank will also set a unified foreign exchange rate for all sectors, as per the guidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Md Mezbaul Haque, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, said this on Sunday in a press briefing.

The IMF team ended their visit Sunday, having arrived in Dhaka on April 25, to discuss the progress of implementation of the joint action plan for the $4.7 billion IMF loan for Bangladesh.

After the discussion with the IMF delegation, Haque briefed reporters regarding the discussions on Sunday.

Meanwhile the IMF team has expressed satisfaction regarding the progress of reforms in different sectors, the spokesperson said.

Explaining the introduction of a unified exchange rate, he said that a single foreign exchange rate does not mean that the buying and selling rate of the dollar will be the same.

Now there are several exchange rates, but if the difference between them is within 2 percent, the exchange rate can be said to have a single exchange rate. 

Apart from this, calculation of forex reserves according to the IMF’s Balance of Payments and Investment Position Manual (BPM-6) will also be announced in the next monetary policy, Mezbaul said.

The next IMF delegation will visit Bangladesh in October. Some of the reform measures to be carried out under the terms of the loan to Bangladesh are expected to be achieved by September.

The IMF has already disbursed the first instalment of the sanctioned loan. Mezbaul said that the recently concluded visit of the IMF team has nothing to do with receiving the second instalment of the loan.