Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The central bank purchased $15 million more from a state-owned commercial bank on Tuesday to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.

“We’ve bought the US currency from the bank directly at market rate to protect the interest of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.

According to the market operators, the US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.67 in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market on the day, unchanged from the previous level.

The BB official also said the central bank continues to purchase the US dollar from the banks to offset higher inflow of foreign exchange in the market.

“We may continue purchasing the US dollar in the near future on the basis of market requirement,” he said.

A total of $4.085 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 1 and April 15 of the current fiscal (FY), 2013-14, as part of BB’s intervention in the market.

BBN/SSR/AD-16Apr14-12:21 pm (BST)