On Sunday, the interbank exchange rate was set at Tk 89 against the greenback, compared with Tk 87.90 on May 23.

“The new exchange rate will take effect from Monday,” said Md Serajul Islam, spokesperson for Bangladesh Bank.

The bill for collection rate, commonly known as the BC rate, has been set at Tk 89.15 for imports and exports.

Macroeconomists and analysts are saying the central bank has been using the tool of devaluation to put a brake on the depletion of foreign exchange reserves, which stand at $42 billion now.

Bangladesh had a record $48.02 billion in August last year, sufficient to pay import bills for up to one year, but a steady decline has brought it down to the current $42 billion.

According to them, the dual effect of a global hike of commodities prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine war led to soaring import costs and a decline in remittances compared to last year’s inflow have impacted the foreign exchange coffer heavily.

In an interview with bdnews24.com earlier this month, Serajul, an executive director at the central bank, said: “The open import is under more pressure compared with export. So, the banks are unable to meet the demand for the dollar, which is why dollar price has increased a bit.”

The central bank’s data, from Jul-Mar of the current fiscal, reveals that the import of various commodities was worth $66.5 billion, which is 43.84 percent higher than the last fiscal in the same period.

On remittances, in the same nine months, the expatriates have sent $17.31 billion, which is 16.25 percent lower than the same period last fiscal.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh earned $43.34 billion by exporting goods, which is 35.14 percent higher than the same period in the last fiscal.

This means, on average, a billion US dollar deficit remained every month.