US Dollar File photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh has sold $38 million to three commercial banks directly to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market.
“We’ve sold the US dollars to the banks at market rate on Wednesday to settle their import payment obligations particularly for food grains and fuel oils,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The banks, which purchased the greenback from the BB, are Standard Chartered Bank, Sonali Bank Limited and Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL).
The central banker also said the BB may continue providing such support to the banks in line with the market requirement.
The central bank of Bangladesh recently resumed providing the foreign exchange support through selling of the US dollar to the banks directly to keep the market stable.
As part of the move, the central bank sold $20 million to the banks in August, according to the central bank’s confidential report.
The BB sold a total of $130 million since July 01 of this fiscal year, 2017-18, to the commercial banks as part of its ongoing support.
The central bank had sold the US dollar to the banks for making their import payments against petroleum products and food grains.
Market operators said the demand for the US currency is increasing gradually, mainly due to higher import payments pressure, particularly of capital machinery, petroleum products, consumer items including food grains, and scrap vessels.
BBN/SSR/AD