Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh on Wednesday provided another overdraft (OD) facility worth US$ 28 million to a state-owned commercial bank (SCB) for settlement of its import bills.
"We've provided the OD facility to the SCB against government-approved securities to help settle its fuel oil, fertilizer and food grain import bills," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, told BBN in the capital, Dhaka.
On Tuesday, the central bank offered an OD facility worth $10 million to the same SCB for settlement of petroleum product import bills.
The central bank of Bangladesh will continue its foreign currency support to the commercial banks mainly for making payments on import of fuel oils, fertilizer and food grains, the official added.
The BB continues its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market by selling and buying the greenback and providing such short term facilities to the banks aiming to keep the market stable.
As part of the intervention, the central bank bought $139 million from a foreign commercial bank recently.
The BB started intervention in the market by selling the US currency directly to the authorized dealers from October 29, 2007 to keep the market stable.
The central bank has since sold $735 million to the commercial banks as part of its intervention in the market, officials confirmed.
BBN/SI/SS/AD-27November08-10:34 AM (BST)