Bangladeshi taka
The Bangladeshi taka is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at.
Issuance of banknotes ৳10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, and for the ৳2 and ৳5 banknotes, which are the responsibility of the ministry of finance of the government of Bangladesh. The most commonly used symbol for the taka is "৳" and "Tk", used on receipts while purchasing goods and services. It was formerly divided into 100 poysha, but poysha coins are no longer in circulation
Etymology
According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language and Banglapedia, the word taka came from Sanskrit word tankah. Another hypothesis is that the word is derived from a Turkic word Tamga or tamgha, "stamp, seal". Many Turkic-speaking areas in Central Asia were once centers of Indo-Iranian languages. There was a synthesis of Turkic and Iranian cultures, which is known as the Turco-Persian tradition. The Persianized Turks conquered large parts of the Indian subcontinent, giving rise to an Indo-Persian culture. Many kingdoms that used the currency had Persian and Sanskrit as official languages.The word taka in Bangla is also commonly used generically to mean any money, currency, or notes. Thus, colloquially, a person speaking in Bangla may use "taka" to refer to money regardless of what currency it is denominated in. This is also common in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, where the official name of the Indian rupees is "taka" as well. In other eastern Indian languages with the influence of Prakrit, in Assam it is টকা tôka, it is ଟଂକା tôngka in Odisha, and it is ꠐꠦꠈꠣ texá in Sylheti.
History
1947–71
After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, in East Bengal, which later became the eastern wing of Pakistan union and was renamed to East Pakistan in 1956, the Pakistani rupee also bore the word taka on official notes and coins. Bangla was one of the two national languages of the Pakistan union between 1956 and 1971. The Bangladeshi taka came into existence since 1972, a year after the independence of the eastern wing of the union, as the independent nation of Bangladesh.Prior to the Liberation war in 1971, banknotes of the State Bank of Pakistan circulated throughout Bangladesh, and continued to be used in Bangladesh even after independence for only about three months until the official introduction of the taka on 4 March 1972. During the war, it was an unofficial practice of some Bengali nationalists to protest Pakistani rule by stamping banknotes with "বাংলা দেশ" and "BANGLA DESH" as two words in either Bangla or English. These locally produced stamps are known to exist in several varieties, as are forgeries. On 8 June 1971, the Pakistani government declared that all banknotes bearing such stamps ceased to be legal tender. Furthermore, to prevent looted high-denomination notes from disrupting the Pakistani economy, the government also withdrew the legal tender status of all 100- and 500-rupee notes.
Some foreign publications mention that there were rubber stamp "BANGLA DESH" overprints on different denominations of Pakistani bank notes during the a.m. period. It may be mentioned that Pakistani postage stamps were rubber-stamped and used all over Bangladesh until 30 March 1973, but Bangladesh Bank or the Ministry of Finance never issued an order to overprint or rubber-stamp Pakistani currency. It would be interesting to note here, that a counterfeiting gang is active, which uses a "washing system", whereby ৳100 notes are washed with a special kind of liquid, and the numbers are changed to give it the appearance of a ৳500 note.
Since 1972
The taka was introduced in Bangladesh in 1972, replacing the Pakistani rupee at par.Treasury banknotes
- The first treasury notes in 1972 for ৳1 and notes of the Bangladesh Bank for ৳5, ৳10 and ৳100.
- In 1977, banknotes for ৳50 were introduced, followed by ৳500 in 1979 and ৳20 in 1982.
- ৳1 treasury notes were issued until 1992, with ৳2 treasury notes introduced in 1989.
- ৳1000 banknotes were introduced in 2008.
- ৳5 banknotes, previously issued by Bangladesh Bank, are now issued by the Government of Bangladesh.
Banknotes and issues
In 2011, Bangladesh Bank began issuing a new series of banknotes denominated in ৳2, ৳5, ৳100, ৳500, and ৳1000. All are dated 2011 and feature a portrait and watermark of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along the National Martyr's Monument in Savar at center front.
From 2011, the Bangladesh Bank introduced new notes denominated in ৳10, ৳20, and ৳50 on 7 March 2012. The notes bear the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Martyr's Monument in Savar on the front. On the back of the notes, the ৳10 will picture the Baitul Mukarram mosque, the ৳20 pictures the Shat Gombuj mosque in Bagherat, and the ৳50 notes feature Shilpacharjo Zainul Abedin's famous painting "Ploughing."
On March 7 of 2019, Bangladesh Bank released new ৳100 notes, which had the same design as 2011 Version, but had better security, a stronger Blue and was made of a different material.
On December 15 of 2019, Bangladesh Bank issued new ৳50 banknotes, with the same design as the 2011 version, but had a different colour and has a slightly different design in some parts.
On March 17 of 2020, Bangladesh Bank introduced new ৳200 notes. They bear a portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on both sides and a landscape picture of a village and a River and Boats.
Commemorative banknotes
In 2011, Bangladesh Bank also introduced a ৳40 note to commemorate the "40th Victory Anniversary of Bangladesh". The commemorative note features a portrait of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Martyr's Monument in Savar on front, and six armed men on back. Curiously, this note has an electrotype 10 in the watermark, indicating it was likely printed on extra ৳10 banknote paper.On 15 February 2012, Bangladesh Bank has introduced a ৳60 note to commemorate "60 years of National Movement". The commemorative note measures and features the Shaeed Minar in Dhaka and five men on the back. Like the ৳40 commemorative note, this note has an electrotype 50 in the watermark. It was likely printed on extra ৳50 banknote paper.
On 26 January 2013, Bangladesh Bank issued a ৳25 note to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Security Printing Corporation Ltd. On the front is the National Martyr's Monument in Savar, the designs of the previous series of the Bangladeshi taka notes and its postage stamps, three spotted deer and the magpie robin bird. On the reverse is the headquarters of the Security Printing Corporation. Curiously, this note has an electrotype 10 in the watermark, indicating it was likely printed on extra ৳10 banknote paper.
On 8 July 2013, Bangladesh Bank issued a ৳100 note to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Bangladesh National Museum. The commemorative note features an 18th-century terracotta plaque of a horseman on the front and the Bangladesh National Museum on the back.
Coins
In 1973, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 poysha. 1 poysha coins followed in 1974, with ৳1 coins introduced in 1975. The 1, 5 and 10 poysha were struck in aluminium, with the 25 and 50 poysha struck in steel and the ৳1 in copper-nickel. The 5 poysha were square with rounded corners, and the 10 poysha were scalloped. Steel ৳5 were introduced in 1994, and a steel ৳2 coin followed in 2004.1 and 5 poysha coins are rarely found in circulation. 10, 25, and 50 poysha coins do not circulate widely. Only the ৳1, ৳2 and ৳5 are regularly found in circulation.
Banknotes
Rarely used banknotes of the Bangladeshi taka are ৳1, ৳25, ৳40 and ৳60, ৳70 and the most frequently used banknotes in circulation are ৳2, ৳5, ৳10, ৳20, ৳50, ৳100, ৳500 and ৳1000.Bangladesh Bank has withdrawn the new ৳50 note after a spelling mistake of Shilpacharjo Zainul Abedin which was identified on the back of the note. The note had just been introduced on 7 March, so it is likely that very few made it into circulation, even though 22.5 million pieces were printed.
The Bangladesh Bank has issued a new series of banknotes, phasing out the older designs for new, more secure ones. All banknotes other than the 1 taka feature a portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the obverse along with the watermark of the National Martyrs’ Memorial.
The folder of the banknote for the 40th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh had a spelling error of the name of the country. It was inserted as Bangldesh instead of Bangladesh.
Exchange rates
Historic exchange rates
Upon Bangladesh's independence, the value of the Bangladeshi taka was set between ৳7.5 and ৳8.0 to US$1. Except for fiscal year 1978, the taka's value relative to the US dollar declined every year from 1971 through the end of 1987. To help offset this phenomenon, Bangladesh first used the compensatory financing facility of the International Monetary Fund in fiscal year 1974. Despite the increasing need for assistance, the Mujib government was initially unwilling to meet the IMF's conditions on monetary and fiscal policy. By fiscal year 1975, however, the government revised its stance, declaring a devaluation of the taka by 56 percent and agreeing to establishing the Bangladesh Aid Group by the World Bank.Between 1980 and 1983, the taka sustained a decline of some 50 percent because of a deterioration in Bangladesh's balance of payments. Between 1985 and 1987, the taka was adjusted in frequent incremental steps, stabilising again around 12 percent lower in real terms against the US dollar, but at the same time narrowing the difference between the official rate and the preferential secondary rate from 15 percent to 7.5 percent. Accompanying this structural adjustment was an expansion in trade conducted at the secondary rate, to 53 percent of total exports and 28 percent of total imports. In mid-1987, the official rate was relatively stable, approaching less than ৳31 to US$1. In January 2011, US$1 was equivalent to approximately ৳72, as of 21 April 2012, US$1 was worth close to ৳82, and as of 9 September 2015 US$1 valued ৳77.
| Currency | ISO code | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 1996 | 2000 | 2001 | 2005 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| U.S. dollar | USD | 7.86 | 18.31 | 36.75 | 40.8 | 50.82 | 53.84 | 58.11 | 67.29 | 67.34 | 67.40 | 68.11 | 69.84 | 81.64 | 78.31 | 76.45 | 78.85 |
| Japanese yen | JPY | 0.02 | 0.09 | 0.27 | 0.38 | 0.48 | 0.46 | 0.56 | 0.55 | 0.62 | 0.74 | 0.74 | 0.84 | 1.06 | 0.88 | 0.73 | 0.64 |
| Soviet ruble Russian ruble | SUR RUB | 14.93 | 29.00 | 55.12 | 8.16 | 1.85 | 1.91 | 2.17 | 2.62 | 2.79 | 2.14 | 2.31 | 2.35 | 2.66 | 2.63 | 2.29 | 1.20 |
| Euro | EUR | – | – | – | – | 51.48 | 50.57 | 76.37 | 87.45 | 98.99 | 90.01 | 97.28 | 93.26 | 105.26 | 103.98 | 104.22 | 89.26 |
| Pound sterling | GBP | 18.92 | 44.02 | 71.01 | 62.48 | 83.23 | 79.59 | 109.35 | 131.74 | 132.6 | 97.66 | 110.01 | 110.04 | 126.57 | 125.19 | 125.90 | 116.13 |
| Swiss franc | CHF | 1.8 | 10.08 | 28.89 | 34.63 | 31.97 | 33.07 | 49.38 | 53.73 | 60.99 | 60.23 | 65.87 | 73.1 | 86.91 | 84.7 | 84.66 | 81.26 |
| Hong Kong dollar | HKD | 1.31 | 3.53 | 4.68 | 5.28 | 6.53 | 6.9 | 7.45 | 8.62 | 8.62 | 8.69 | 8.77 | 8.97 | 10.51 | 10.1 | 9.85 | 9.86 |
| Malaysian ringgit | MYR | 2.55 | 8.23 | 13.54 | 15.97 | 13.37 | 14.16 | 15.25 | 19.12 | 20.54 | 18.86 | 20.06 | 22.71 | 26.14 | 25.68 | 23.14 | 21.41 |
| Kuwaiti dinar | KWD | 22.09 | 64.51 | 128.73 | 136.25 | 167.01 | 176.05 | 197.82 | 231.69 | 245.83 | 235.31 | 236.52 | 247.62 | 292.46 | 277.6 | 270.16 | 259.66 |
| Saudi riyal | SAR | 1.75 | 5.5 | 9.79 | 10.88 | 13.55 | 14.35 | 15.49 | 17.93 | 17.92 | 17.95 | 18.14 | 18.6 | 21.76 | 20.87 | 20.38 | 20.36 |
| Emirate dirham | AED | 1.65 | 4.89 | 9.96 | 11.11 | 13.84 | 14.65 | 15.82 | 18.31 | 18.33 | 18.34 | 18.54 | 19.01 | 22.22 | 21.31 | 20.81 | 20.82 |
| Indian rupee | INR | 1.00 | 2.3 | 2.00 | 1.14 | 1.16 | 1.15 | 1.32 | 1.51 | 1.71 | 1.35 | 1.47 | 1.51 | 1.56 | 1.44 | 1.23 | 1.22 |