Bangladesh Bank Notes Record Printing Cost Surge for 2025-26 Fiscal Year
Bangladesh Bank has recorded an unprecedented surge in currency note printing expenditures for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Officials confirmed that international market pressures drove up the costs rather than currency devaluation or redesigns.
The central bank of Bangladesh has documented a significant escalation in the expenses associated with printing currency notes during the 2025-26 fiscal year. According to official data released regarding the operations of the financial sector, this period marked the highest expenditure incurred by the central bank for note printing in recent years, signaling a sharp departure from the spending patterns observed in preceding fiscal periods.
A detailed examination of the financial trajectory reveals a dramatic year-on-year comparison. In the preceding 2024-25 fiscal year, the total expenditure incurred for printing currency notes stood at 2.34 billion, 78 million, 67 thousand taka (234 কোটি ৭৮ লাখ ৬৭ হাজার টাকা). However, within the span of just one single year, the overall cost required to manufacture these notes experienced an extraordinary upward leap, expanding by 2.24 billion, 14 million, 8 thousand taka (২২৪ কোটি ১৪ লাখ ৮ হাজার টাকা).
To contextualize this rapid financial escalation, historical expenditure figures from earlier fiscal cycles demonstrate a consistent baseline before the recent surge. Back in the 2021-22 fiscal year, the central bank spent 3.84 billion, 25 million, 41 thousand taka (৩৮৪ কোটি ২৫ লাখ ৪১ হাজার টাকা) on printing. This figure saw a slight moderation in the 2022-23 fiscal year, dropping to 3.74 billion, 3 million, 85 thousand taka (৩৭৪ কোটি ৩ লাখ ৮৫ হাজার টাকা), followed by a further decrease in the 2023-24 fiscal year down to 3.37 billion, 29 million, 48 হাজার taka (৩৩৭ কোটি ২৯ লাখ ৪৮ হাজার টাকা).
When investigating the root causes behind this unprecedented fiscal jump, authorities categorically ruled out domestic factors such as alterations to currency aesthetics. Specifically, officials confirmed that the implementation of new note designs did not contribute in any way to the sudden spike in manufacturing expenditures observed across the sector during this timeframe.
Furthermore, an analysis of foreign exchange movements demonstrates that macroeconomic currency fluctuations played a negligible role in driving up printing expenses. Statistical records show that at the conclusion of June 2025, the average interbank exchange rate was established at 122.77 taka per US dollar. By June 2026, that rate shifted marginally to 122.85 taka per US dollar, indicating a negligible annual depreciation of the local currency by a mere 8 poisha, or zero point zero seven percent.
Ultimately, the state-owned enterprise responsible for currency production, The Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Ltd (SPPCBL), alongside Bangladesh Bank, identified external global pressures as the primary catalysts. The extraordinary surge in printing costs was fundamentally propelled by rising international market prices for raw materials—specifically specialized security paper and printing ink—coupled with persistent disruptions affecting global supply chains.
