The photo taken on June 23, 2017 shows bundles of currency notes of taka (Bangladeshi currency) at a footpath stall in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on June 23, 2017.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Bangladeshi Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presents the annual budget in parliament in Dhaka, Bangladesh on June 9, 2022.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
The U.S. dollar reached an all-time high against the Bangladeshi taka on Monday, soaring to 115 taka for the first time in the country's kerb market trading history.

On July 26 this year, the greenback reached 112 taka in the country's open market for the first time. Subsequently, the rate hovered around 106 taka at the kerb market as authorities launched raids on money exchanger houses and the Bangladesh Bank (BB) intensified its monitoring.

However, the fresh hike comes amid mounting economic pressure and speculation that the country is in dire need of foreign loan support.

Increasing imports and a widening trade deficit were also cited as the possible reasons for taka depreciation.

A BB official told Xinhua that the import bill in the last fiscal year 2021-22 increased to over 82 billion U.S. dollars, fueling a persistent increase in the country's trade deficit.

"This is continuously increasing the pressure on the taka," said the official who did not like to be named.

Bangladesh's trade deficit ballooned to a record level of over 33 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal 2021-22 which ended June 30 on the back of increased imports, showed the latest central bank data.

According to the central bank data, the country's import payment was 82.50 billion dollars, up 35.95 percent, in the last fiscal year, while earnings from exports stood at 49.25 billion dollars, up 33.45 percent, during the same period.