Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh purchased US$40 million more from seven commercial banks on Thursday to help keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said.
“We’re purchasing the US currency from the bank directly at market rate to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the US dollar stable,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 78.48 in the inter-bank forex market on the day unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
A total of $2.56 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and February 25 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 as part of the BB’s intervention in the market.
The central bank bought $3.76 billion from the commercial banks in the last financial year.
In FY’14 and FY’13, the central bank had bought $5.15 billion and $4.54 billion respectively, the BB data showed.
The central bank of Bangladesh may continue buying of the US dollar from the banks in line with the market requirement, another BB official hinted.
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserve rose to $28.06 billion on the day following US dollar purchase.
BBN/SSR/AD