Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank has continued purchasing 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$70 million from two private commercial banks (PCBs) on Tuesday at market rate.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 77.70 in the inter-bank forex market on the day against BDT 77.71 of the previous level, market operators said.
The central bank purchased $3.593 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 $18.79 billion Tuesday from $18.77 billion of the previous day, following the US dollar purchase.
BBN/SSR/AD-18Mar14-11:19 pm (BST)