Bangladeshi taka

History

1947–1971

After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, East Bengal became the eastern wing of Pakistan and was renamed to East Pakistan under the One Unit Scheme 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 in 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 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.

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 instead 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 These have mostly been replaced by coins since the early 2000s.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 They proved unpopular, however, and were withdrawn later. 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 the 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 with 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 the front, and six armed men on the back. 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 introduced a ৳60 note to commemorate "60 years of National Movement". The commemorative note measures 130 by 60 millimetres (5.1 in × 2.4 in) and features the Shaheed 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, ৳2 and ৳5, were issued in 2013, and ৳1 was issued in 2014.

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 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh, was featured on the obverse in the series issued under the Awami League governments.

Latest series

Following the fall of the Awami League in the July Uprising 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 Mujibur Rahman's portrait was removed, and graffiti of the July Uprising was added in this series.

Exchange rates

Current 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 establish 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 at ৳77.