Floating exchange, lending rates by June’23

Business Desk :
Bangladesh Bank is set to go for floating exchange and lending rates by June later this year as part of its effort to reform the financial sector.
“We are working on introducing a market-based forex and lending rates for better outcome,” said its governor Abdur Rouf Talukder on Tuesday.
The forex rates are administered to some extent by the central bank while the lending rates are capped.
The governor was speaking as the chief guest at a discussion in Dhaka on “middle-income trap and way forward”, marking the occasion of Bangladesh-ADB 50 years of partnership.
To avoid the middle-income trap, Bangladesh needs to go for some reforms and take initiatives,” he said, stressing the need for investing in product diversification, productivity improvement, developing CMSMEs, climate change issues, and improvement in financial inclusion and digital transformation.
Talukder also revealed that the central bank is working to increase cashless transactions in Bangladesh to nearly 75% within the next four years, aiming to reduce dependence on hard currency.