Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Bangladesh’s money market remained stable on Sunday, the last working day before the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, because of having adequate liquidity with banks, officials said.
The call rate ranged between 5.25 percent and 8.25 per cent on the day unchanged from the previous level. However, most of the deals were settled at rates varying between 6.0 per cent and 6.50 per cent, the market operators said.
The weighted average rate of the call money rose to 7.60 per cent Sunday from 7.57 per cent of the previous working days, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics.
“The commercial banks did not lend aggressively ahead of the Eid due to lower demand for fresh credit in the market. So that most of the commercial banks are holding excess liquidity that was used in the money market to meet the growing demand for overnight borrowing ahead of the Eid,” a senior official of a leading commercial bank told BBN in Dhaka.
Talking to the BBN, an executive director of the BB said the central bank has expedited injection of fresh fund into the market using different monetary instruments including assured liquidity support to keep the money market stable.
As part of the move, the BB injected fresh funds worth BDT 30.85 billion on the day through auction of repurchase agreement (repo) and special liquidity support to the primary dealers (PDs) and non-PD banks.
On July 24 last, the central bank injected funds worth BDT 17.76 billion using same mechanisms, according to the BB officials.
Total turnover in the call money market came down to BDT 64.79 billion on the day from BDT 67.53 billion of the previous working day, the BB data showed.
On the other hand, the US dollar remained almost unchanged against the local currency in the inter-bank foreign exchange market due mainly to lower demand for the greenback.
The US currency was quoted at BDT 77.52 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on Sunday against BDT 77.52- BDT 77.54 of the previous working day.
BBN/SSR/AD-27July14-6:48 pm (BST)