Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh has expedited purchase of US dollar from the banks to keep the foreign exchange (forex) market stable in wake of higher inflow of remittances ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
“We’ve strengthened purchasing the US currency from the banks directly to minimise the gap between demand and supply of the foreign exchange in the market,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The central banker also said such intervention in the forex market helps to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable.
As part of the move, the BB bought $65 million on Thursday from three private commercial banks at the market rate to offset the increased supply of foreign exchange in the market.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 77.58-BDT 77.60 in the inter-bank forex market on the day against BDT 77.60 in the previous working day, market operators said.
The central bank purchased $358 million from the banks, so far, in the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 as part of its intervention in the market, the BB data showed.
The country's foreign exchange reserve rose to $21.26 billion on Wednesday from $21.25 billion of the previous day following the US dollar purchase.
Bangladesh received $584.95 million as remittance between July 1 and July 11 from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad, according to the central bank statistic.
BBN/SSR/AD-19JUy14-11:20 am (BST)