Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The Bangladesh Bank (BB) purchased $50 million more from three banks on Tuesday through an interbank spot market auction to keep the exchange rate of the US dollar stable against the taka.
The amount was bought under the Multiple Price Auction method at a cut-off rate of BDT 122.75 per dollar, central bank officials said.
The latest intervention comes amid a sharp rise in inward remittances, which grew by over 46% to $456 million during May 1–4, compared to $312 million in the same period last year.
A senior BB official said the move aimed to offset excess dollar supply ahead of Eid-ul-Azha and maintain exchange rate stability, which is crucial for both exporters and remitters.
Since July 13 last year, the central bank has purchased $5.75 billion from banks under the current free-floating exchange rate regime, also helping gradually strengthen foreign exchange reserves.
Meanwhile, the country’s gross forex reserves rose to $35.30 billion on May 5 from $35.12 billion on April 23. Under the International Monetary Fund’s BMP6 methodology, reserves stood at $30.61 billion, up from $30.48 billion.
BBN/SSR/AD