Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank has strengthened purchase of the US dollar from the commercial banks directly to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said.
"We've expedited our intervention in the forex market aiming to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
As part of the move, the BB bought US$135 million from seven private commercial banks (PCBs) on Monday at market rate.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.73 in the inter-bank forex market on the day unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
The central bank purchased $3.49 billion from the banks, so far, in the current fiscal year (FY 2013-14) as part of the central bank's intervention in the market, according to the central bank statistics.
The country's foreign exchange (forex) reserve reached $18.46 billion Monday from $18.42 billion of the previous day, following the US dollar purchase.
“We’ll continue such intervention in line with the market requirement to facilitate the exporters and migrant workers," the central banker said, adding that the BB is monitoring the overall forex market closely.
BBN/SSR/AD-11Mar14-9:50 am (BST)