Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank has resumed its foreign exchange support through selling the US dollar to the commercial banks after nearly a month interval aiming to keep the market stable, officials said.
As part of the move, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) sold US$ 15 million at market rate to two state-owned commercial banks directly on Monday to meet the growing demand for the greenback.
“We’ve sold the US dollar to the banks for settling their import payment obligations,” a BB senior official told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the central bank may continue such support to the banks in line with the market requirement.
Earlier on August 06 last, the BB sold $10 million to the banks on the same ground.
Besides, the exchange of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) depreciated by five paisa against the US currency at customer level on Monday, according to market operators.
The exchange rate of greenback for BC (bills for collection) selling rose to BDT 83.80 on Monday from BDT 83.75 of the previous working day, they added.
On the other hand, the US dollar was quoted at BDT 80.75 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on the day unchanged from the previous level, they added.
A total of $125 million was sold to the commercial banks since July 01 of this fiscal year, 2018-19, as part of its ongoing support, according to BB’s latest data.
The demand for the US dollar is gradually increasing, mainly due to higher import payments pressure, particularly of capital machinery, petroleum products and consumer items.
BBN/SSR/AD