Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Government securities worth BDT 10.75 billion has been purchased under buying back arrangement in the first-half of this fiscal year to manage the government’s surplus funds properly, officials said.

Under the arrangement, the central bank has bought treasury bills worth BDT 4.0 billion and bonds worth BDT 6.75 billion from primary dealer (PD) banks and financial institutions from December 24 to December 30.

On December 24 this year, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) started buying back of the government securities to reduce the government’s debt service liabilities.

“We’ve taken the move to reduce the government’s surplus fund position and to facilitate the performances of PDs in the secondary securities market through increasing liquidity support,” a BB senior official said.

The central bank of Bangladesh earlier selected 13 PDs – 10 commercial banks and three Non-bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) – to handle government securities in the secondary market.

Currently, four government bonds – 5-year, 10-year, 15-year and 20-year – are being traded in the markets.

On the other hand, three treasury bills (T-bills) are being transacted through auctions to adjust the government borrowing from the banking system.

The T-bills have the maturity periods of 91 days, 182 days and 364 days.

BBN/SS/SI/AD-30December09-11:56 pm (BST)