Even as Bangladesh continues to struggle against the scarcity of the US dollar, which has impacted the industrial sector of the country adversely, Bangladesh Bank has initiated inquiries into the actions of 10 banks’ managing directors, questioning why punitive measures should not be imposed on their treasury heads due to their alleged involvement in manipulating the dollar exchange rate this year.

The official communication follows the central bank’s rejection of the banks’ previous explanations regarding accusations of charging rates higher than the officially declared dollar exchange rate.

The banks under scrutiny include Social Islami, Al-Arafah Islami, Mercantile, Modhumoti, Midland, Brac, Exim, Premier, Shahjalal Islami, and Trust.

According to Md Mezbaul Haque, the central bank spokesman, these banks have been alleged to have applied higher dollar exchange rates to their clients than the rates officially declared.

M Reazul Karim, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Premier Bank, confirmed the receipt of the letter and expressed the bank’s commitment to responding within the stipulated timeframe. Meanwhile, Mati Ul Hasan, Additional Managing Director of Mercantile Bank, explained that their bank had been compelled to open Letters of Credit (LCs) at higher dollar rates in emergency situations, which had been communicated to the central bank previously.

It’s worth noting that this is not the first instance in which the central bank has taken such action against banks over allegations of manipulating the dollar exchange rate.

A similar situation occurred last year when the central bank sought explanations from 12 banks, which eventually led to some changes in treasury head positions. Since then, the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association and ABB have been actively involved in determining the unofficial dollar exchange rate, albeit under the implicit guidance of the central bank.