‘De-dollarisation’: Bangladesh, India to trade using taka, rupee from September

A silent revolution is underway, as Bangladesh and India will start using Indian rupee and Bangladeshi taka for trade purposes from September 2023.

At the same time, Bangladesh Bank will introduce a debit card called “Taka Pay Card”, through which people can withdraw taka or rupee. People who travel to India will get the facility of paying through this card, said the central bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder recently.

He said, people going for treatment, students, and businessmen will benefit from this system and they can avoid using the US dollar.

From September, India and Bangladesh will open LCs for import and export, using the Indian rupee and Bangladeshi taka.

Until now, rupee was converted into dollar, and that was converted again into rupee; the same was done with taka.

As a result, Bangladeshi and Indian citizens were losing at least six percent of rupee or taka. As the new system provides for the direct rupee to taka or taka to rupee conversion, no party will be affected, Bangladesh Bank sources said.

The offer was from the Government of India, and Bangladesh accepted it. This will eliminate use of US dollar from trade and personal travel purposes.