Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Bangladesh Taka (BDT) remained stable against the US dollar during the last week due mainly to the ongoing political turmoil, treasury officials said.
“The market is expected to see the same mode in the next week if the political unrest continues,” a senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank told BBN in Dhaka on Saturday.
He also said the political turmoil has adversely impacted on import orders which led to lower demand for the US dollar recently.
“Falling trend of the imported commodities particularly fuel oil prices in the global market has been a major reason for the lower demand for the greenback in the local market,” the private banker explained. “Besides, most of businessmen are now following a ‘go-slow’ policy to avoid risk.”
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) bought US$75 million from the commercial banks directly at market in the last week aiming to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 77.80 in the inter-bank forex market in the last week unchanged from the previous level, they added.
The central bank is purchasing the US dollar from the banks continuously to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the US dollar stable, a senior BB official told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said such intervention may continue in the coming days in line with the market requirement.
The average daily inter-bank USD/BDT transaction volume was about $26.17 million against $29.70 million of the preceding week, according to the bankers.
Most of the banks kept their published foreign exchange rates unchanged throughout the week.
The USD/BDT selling rates for importers of major foreign and private banks was at 78.10-78.60, while USD buying rates from exporters were at 77.10-77.60.
For non- commercial payments such as Tele Graphic Transfer as donations, wage earners remittance, dollar drafts etc, the average T.T buying rate was in the range of 77.10-77.60 while average T.T selling rate was at 78.3363 on the last working day.
USD/BDT swap market last week remained active. The daily average volume of swap transaction was around $67.00 million, they added.
BBN/SSR/AD-21Feb15-4:33 pm (BST)