Taka Mountains

The taka (, , sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at .

Issuance of banknotes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while the 2 and 5 govt. notes are the responsibility of the ministry of finance. The govt. notes of Tk. 2 and Tk.5 have mostly been replaced by coins while lower denomination coins (including all poysha coins) up to Tk. 1 have almost gone out of circulation due to inflation. The most commonly used symbol for the taka is "" and "Tk", used on receipts while purchasing goods and services. It is divided into 100 poysha, but poysha coins are no longer in circulation. The poysha is still used for accounting purposes (e.g., Tk 123,456.78 for 123,456 taka and 78 poysha).

On 8 May 2024, the central bank placed the taka in a crawling peg to the US dollar, with a rate of 117 takas per US dollar.

Etymology

According to ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' and ''Banglapedia'', the word ''ṭaka'' came from the Sanskrit word ''ṭaṅka'', meaning silver coin, a Kulturwort of unclear origin, related to Turkic ''təñkə'' "coin, money", compare Tatar ''tanka'', Uzbek ''tanga'', Kazakh ''tenge'', Russian ''denʹga''. 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 rupee is "taka" as well. In other eastern Indian languages with the influence of Prakrit in Bihar it is "taka" in Maithili and Magadhi languages, in Assam it is টকা ''tôka'' and it is ଟଙ୍କା ''taṅkā'' in Odisha.

History

1947–1971

After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, East Bengal became the eastern wing of Pakistan 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 other being Urdu). 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 "" 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.

Since 1972

On 4 March 1972, the taka replaced 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. These have mostly been replaced by coins since the early 2000s.

Banknotes and issues

In 2000, the government issued polymer 10 notes as an experiment (similar to the Australian dollar). They proved unpopular, however, and were withdrawn later. At present, the 1 and 5 notes have mostly been replaced with coins, and in 2008, the government issued 1,000 notes.

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 7 March 2019, Bangladesh Bank released new ৳100 notes, which had the same design as 2011 Version, but had better security, a stronger Blue and were made of a different material.

On 15 December 2019, Bangladesh Bank issued new ৳50 banknotes, with the same design as the 2011 version, but had a different colour (orange, brown and fluorescent yellow-green), and a slightly different design in some parts.

On 17 March 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, 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 (Martyrs' monument) 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 (silver jubilee) of the Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) 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 (''doyel''). 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. The same is the case with the 10, 25, and 50 poysha coins, as they have lost value due to inflation over the years. Only the 1, 2 and 5 are occasionally found in circulation. Unlike most other countries, coins are not issued every year. The most recent coins, 1, 2 and 5, were issued in 2013.

Banknotes

There had been eleven series of taka banknotes since the issuance of the first series in 1972. Banknotes generally feature the heritage sites (mostly mosques), national monuments and portrayals of the village life, agriculture, industry and animals of the country. Apart from this, the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh, was featured in the observe in the series issued under the Awami League governments.

Latest series

Following the fall of Awami League in the July Revolution in 2024, the Bangladesh Bank announced plans to redesign Taka banknotes by 2025. The central bank's Currency and Design Advisory Committee, made up of nine members was selected to submit theme proposals to the Ministry of Finance. Sheikh Mujib's portrait was removed and graffiti of the July Revolution was added in this series.

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.

See also

* Economy of Bangladesh
* The Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Ltd.
* Banknotes of the Bangladeshi taka

References

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*

External links

Bangladesh Bank's page on currencies in circulation


High resolution scans of Bangladeshi currency



51 Years Of Taka History : Notes In Circulation

Bangladeshi Taka Rates
(bn)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangladeshi taka
Economy of Bangladesh
Currencies of Bangladesh
Currencies introduced in 1972
Currencies of Asia
Circulating currencies