Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank purchased US$ 67 million more through auction from seven banks in the interbank spot market on Wednesday aiming to keep the exchange rate of the US dollar against the local currency stable.
The amount was bought under the Multiple Price Auction method and the cutoff rate was BDT 122.30 per dollar, according to the central bank officials.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has so far bought $2.87 billion from banks directly since July 13 last under the prevailing free-floating exchange rate arrangement, the central bank’s latest data showed.
“We’re buying the US dollars from scheduled banks aiming to stabilise the exchange rate, which in turn supports export earnings and remittance inflows,” a senior Bangladesh Bank (BB) official said while explaining the central bank’s intervention in the foreign exchange (forex) market.
He also said that some banks, including troubled ones, have received local currency –Bangladesh Taka (BDT) –by selling their US dollars to the central bank.
“Such intervention is also helping strengthen the country’s foreign exchange reserves,” the central banker explained.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s gross forex reserves rose to $32.12 billion on December 11 this calendar year from $31.89 billion on December 10 as per traditional calculation of the central bank.
Under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Balance of Payments International Investment Poisson Manual-six edition, generally known as BMP6, the forex reserves stood at $27.45 billion during the period under review from $27.22 billion, the BB data showed.
BBN/SSR/AD