The Taka (Bengali:টাকা) (sign: ৳, Tk ; code: BDT) is the currency of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country controls the issuance of the currency except one taka and two taka notes, which are the responsibility of Ministry of Finance of the Government of Bangladesh. The most commonly used symbol for the Taka is Tk and ৳, used on receipts while purchasing goods and services. One taka is subdivided into 100 paisa or poisha.

In India, "taka" is the Bengali and Assamese word for the Indian rupee, and Indian banknotes, which state the names of the denominations in all of India's official languages, use "taka" for the Bengali and Assamese names.

In Bengali, the word "taka" is also commonly used generically to mean any money, currency, or notes. Thus, colloquially, a person speaking Bengali may use "taka" to refer to money regardless of what currency it is denominated in.

History
In 1971, the erstwhile province of East Bengal became the independent nation of Bangladesh with the Pakistan Rupee as its interim currency. The taka became Bangladesh's currency in 1972, replacing the Pakistani rupee at par. The word "taka" is derived from the Sanskrit term तनक tanka which was an ancient denomination of silver coin. The term taka was widely used in different parts of India but with varying meanings. In north India, taka was a copper coin equal to two paise and in the south, it was equal to four paisa or one anna. It was only in Bengal and Orissa where taka was equal to rupee. In all areas of India, taka was used informally for money in general. However, Bengal was the stronghold of taka.

The rupee was introduced by the Turko-Afghan rulers and was strongly upheld by the Mughals and the British rulers. The Bengali people always used the word taka for the rupee, whether silver or gold. Ibn Battuta, the Arab traveller, noticed that, in Bengal, people described gold coins (Dinar) as gold tanka and silver coin as silver tanka. In other words, whatever might be the metallic content of the coin, the people called it taka. This tradition has been followed to this day in eastern regions like Bangladesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Orissa, and Assam. The Indian rupee is officially known as টাকা ṭaka in Bengali, টকা tôka in Assamese, and ଟଙ୍କା ṭôngka in Oriya, and is written as such on Indian banknotes. Likewise, when the Pakistan Rupee was issued prior to 1971 bearing both Urdu and Bengali alphabets (the official languages of the West and East zones respectively), the word taka was used in Bangla version instead of rupiya, as in Urdu version.

Issuing authority
Currency notes and coins of the taka are issued by the Bangladesh Bank which is the central bank of Bangladesh. Currency notes bear the signature of the governor of the Bangladesh Bank who promises to pay the equivalent value in exchange. The exception is one taka and two taka notes. In this case it's the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Bangladesh that shoulders the responsibility. One taka and two taka notes bear the signature of the Finance Secretary to the government.

Value fluctuation
At independence the value of the taka, Bangladesh's unit of currency, was set between 7.5 and 8.0 to US$1.[1] With the exception of fiscal year 1978, the taka's value relative to the dollar declined every year from 1971 through the end of 1987.[1] To help offset this phenomenon, Bangladesh first used the compensatory financing facility of the International Monetary Fund in fiscal year 1974.[1] Despite the increasing need for assistance, the Mujib government was initially unwilling to meet the IMF's conditions on monetary and fiscal policy.[1] By fiscal year 1975, however, the government revised its stance, declaring a devaluation of the taka by 56 percent and agreeing to the establishment by the World Bank of the Bangladesh Aid Group.[1]

Between 1980 and 1983, the taka sustained a decline of some 50 percent because of a deterioration in Bangladesh's balance of payments.[1] Between 1985 and 1987, the taka was adjusted in frequent incremental steps, stabilizing again around 12 percent lower in real terms against the United States 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.[1] Accompanying this structural adjustment was an expansion in the amount of trade conducted at the secondary rate, to 53 percent of total exports and 28 percent of total imports.[1] In mid-1987, the official rate was relatively stable, approaching less than Tk31 to US$1.[1]But right now the one US dollars gives nearly 69 Bangladeshi Taka.

Coins
In 1973, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 poisha. 1 poisha coins followed in 1974, with 1 taka coins introduced in 1975. The 1, 5 and 10 poisha were struck in aluminium, with the 25 and 50 poisha struck in steel and the 1 taka in copper-nickel. The 5 poisha were square with rounded corners, whilst the 10 poisha were scalloped. Steel 5 taka were introduced in 1994, whilst a steel 2 taka coin followed in 2004.

1 and 5 poisha coins are rarely found in circulation. 10, 25, and 50 poisha coins do not circulate widely. Only the 1, 2 and 5 taka are regularly found in circulation.

Paper money
In 1971, Pakistani notes for 1, 5 and 10 rupees were overstamped for use in Bangladesh. These were followed in 1972 by treasury notes for 1 taka and notes of the Bangladesh Bank for 5, 10 and 100 taka. In 1975, banknotes for 50 taka were introduced, followed by 500 taka in 1977 and 20 taka in 1980. 1 taka treasury notes were issued until 1984, with 2 taka treasury notes introduced in 1989.

In the year 2000, the government issued polymer 10 taka notes as an experiment (similar to the Australian dollar). They proved unpopular, however, and were withdrawn later. At present, the 1 taka and 5 taka notes are gradually being replaced with coins.

In 2008, the government issued 1000 taka notes.

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