Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank purchased US$20 million more from three commercial banks on Wednesday aiming to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
“The central bank has bought the US dollar from the banks directly to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of local currency against the greenback stable,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 78.40 in the inter-bank forex market unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
On Tuesday, the central bank similarly purchased $25 million from two commercial banks on the same ground.
The central banker also said the BB has boosted purchase of the US dollar from the banks to maintain a balance between supply and demand as inflow of the foreign currency ahead of the Eid increased.
“The supply side of the foreign currency is improving gradually following higher export earnings along with rising trend of inward remittances,” the BB official explained.
A total of $3.82 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and June 15 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 for offsetting its increased supply to the market.
“Such purchase also helps the banks to comply with the net open position (NOP) rules for holding foreign exchange properly,” another BB official explained.
The central bank may continue buying the US dollar from the banks in line with the market requirement, he hinted.
Country’s foreign exchange reserve rose to $29.59 billion on Wednesday from $29.43 billion on the previous day following US dollar purchase.
The central bank of Bangladesh bought $3.76 billion from the commercial banks in the last FY. It bought $5.15 billion and $4.54 billion in FY 14 and FY 13 respectively.
BBN/SSR/AD