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Editorial

Crackdown on illegal money exchange houses

Bring stability in the country’s dollar market


Bangladeshpost
Published : 29 Jul 2022 07:48 PM

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has taken all-out measures to make the country’s foreign exchange market stable. On Thursday the BB, the central bank warned money exchange houses that their licences would be cancelled if they manipulate the price of the US dollar.

As part of the measures, the central bank in association with the Detective Branch (DB) of Police has launched a crackdown on individuals involved in manufacturing counterfeit US dollars and hoarding the currency illegally. And they would continue ongoing drives against illegal currency business, hoarding and smuggling in the capital to control the sudden hike in the US dollars’ price that has already created an artificial crisis of dollars in the open market.

On July 26, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the taka hit a record of Tk 112 in the country’s kerb market due to a huge demand in recent months. Ten teams of BB visited 20 money exchangers of Gulshan, Paltan and Motijheel in the capital on Wednesday and collected information on dollar transactions. 


We appreciate the government’s time-befitting 

steps to bring stability in the country’s dollar market


The central bank has suspended the operation of a money changer company for holding more dollars than the authorised limit at a time when the local currency continues to lose ground against the US currency. There are 602 authorised money changers in the country. Out of the 235 are valid and the rest have their licences suspended or revoked, according to a media report.

The central bank and an intelligence agency have identified 165 money exchange houses which are involved in manipulating dollar market. According to rules, a money changer house can keep a maximum of $25,000. Most of the money exchange houses do not report to the central bank about their daily transactions.

A section of dishonest money exchange houses are now busy with manufacturing counterfeit US dollars and hoarding the currency illegally to pocket hefty profits holding the people hostage. This organised unholy nexus believe the price of dollar will be increasing further and their profit will also rise in the days to come.

We appreciate the government’s time-befitting steps to bring stability in the country’s dollar market. We hope the exchange rate of US dollar will be stable soon. The dollar crisis will end soon as remittance inflow and exports will increase this year. We believe the government will demolish the unholy syndicate, start monitoring the situation and take stern actions against dishonest money exchange houses.