The US dollar today became more costlier as the local currency depreciated once again in the inter-bank platform.

The exchange rate of the taka stood at Tk 93.95 per dollar today in contrast to Tk 93.45 on Tuesday.

The exchange rate of the taka was Tk 84.80 against each dollar on July 13 last year.

The country's foreign exchange market is facing a shortage of US dollars due to the soaring import payments and the declining trend of remittance.

Import payments have shot up since the end of last year because of the rising prices of commodities in the global market.

Between July and May of the last fiscal year, imports went up by 39 per cent year-on-year to $75.40 billion, while exports grew 33 per cent to $44.58 billion.

During the period, this resulted in a record trade deficit -- the gap between exports and imports -- of $30.81 billion, up 48.8 per cent year-on-year.

Remittance, the cheapest source of foreign currencies for Bangladesh, fell 15 per cent year-on-year to $21.03 billion in fiscal 2021-22.

The country's foreign exchange reserves had dropped below $40 billion yesterday after the Bangladesh Bank cleared the import payments to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU).

The country settled import payments worth $1.99 billion with the ACU last week, plummeting the reserves to $39.80 billion on the day for the first time in nearly two years.

The reserves stood at $46.15 billion in December last year.

The central bank injected $97 million into the market today to keep the market stable, Md Serajul Islam, spokesperson of the BB, told The Daily Star.