The local currency today depreciated further against the US dollar, hitting Tk 92.50 for each greenback in the interbank platform.

The exchange rate of the taka stood at Tk 92 per dollar on Monday before facing a depreciation of Tk 0.50 today.

The taka has depreciated 13 times so far this year.

The country's import payments shot up since the end of last year because of the rising price of commodities in the global market, creating an immense pressure on the foreign exchange market.

Between July and April this fiscal year, imports went up by 41 per cent to $68.66 billion, while exports grew by 35 per cent to $41 billion.

This resulted in a record trade deficit -- the gap between exports and imports -- of $27.56 billion, up 53 per cent year-on-year.

Moreover, remittance inflow fell 16 per cent year-on-year to $19.2 billion in the first 11 months of this fiscal year.

All these led the foreign exchange reserve to decline to $41.7 billion on June 1 against $46.15 billion on December 31 last year.