Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The central bank purchased US$64 million more from five commercial banks on Monday to help keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said,
“We’re is purchasing the greenback from the banks directly at market rate to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the Bangladesh Taka (BDT) against the US dollar stable,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.80 in the inter-bank forex market unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
The central banker also said the BB may continue such intervention in line with the market requirement.
“The supply side of the foreign currency has improved during the period under review due to higher inflow of remittance along with steady growth of export earnings,” the BB official explained.
Bangladesh received $ 657.82 million as remittances between March 1 and March 13 from Bangladeshi nationals who are working abroad, according to the central bank’s latest statistics.
The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.18 billion in February 2015. The amount was lower by $64.62 million than the level of remittance receipts in the previous month. In January, the remittance inflows stood at $1.24 billion.
He also said falling trend of petroleum products in the global market has also helped to ease the overall import payment pressures recently.
The BB resumed purchasing the US dollar from the banks on January 12 last after around three months because of lower demand for the greenback in the market.
A total of $2.35 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and Match 16 last of the current fiscal (FY) 2014-15 as part of the BB’s intervention in the market.
The country’s foreign exchange reserve rose to $22.44 billion Tuesday from $22.40 billion of the previous day following the US dollar purchase, according to the BB officials.
BBN/SSR/AD-17Mar15-11:06 pm (BST)
