Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The central bank of Bangladesh purchased US$50 million more from four banks directly on Tuesday to help keep the country’s foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
The banks are the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), Jamuna Bank, National Bank Limited (NBL) and Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL).
“The central bank has bought the US currency from the banks at market rate to protect the interests 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.
He also said the BB may continue purchasing the US dollar in the near future on the basis of market requirement.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 77.81 in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market on the day against BDT 77.81-BDT 77.83 of the previous working day, the BB data showed.
The BB bought $93 million directly from the commercial banks in the last week.
Earlier on January 12 last, the central bank resumed purchasing the US dollar from the banks after around three months because of lower demand for the greenback in the market.
As part of the move, the central bank bought $1.49 billion from the commercial banks so far in the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
On the other hand, the country’s foreign exchange reserve rose to $21.83 billion on Tuesday from $21.81 billion of the previous day following the US dollar purchase, according to the BB official.
BBN/SSR/AD-20Jan15-11:55 pm (BST)
