Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh purchased a record US$ 4.539 billion from the commercial banks directly in the just concluded fiscal year (FY), 2012-13, to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said.
"We've followed a market-based exchange rate policy continuously to avoid excessive volatility," a BB senior official said.
He also said the central bank has purchased the greenback from the banks continuously to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the Bangladesh Taka (BDT) against the US dollar stable.
As part of the move, the central bank bought $ 155 million from the commercial banks in the current FY (until July 18) as part of its intervention in the market, according the BB officials.
The country's forex reserve reached $ 15.21 billion on Thursday from $ 15.20 billion of the previous day, following the US dollar purchase.
Talking to BBN, a senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank said the lower import payment pressure, higher growth of inward remittance and the rising trend of export earnings have contributed to improvement in supply of foreign exchange in the market recently.
"Most commercial banks are now holding 'sufficient' amount of the US dollar mainly due to lower import payments particularly for food gains in the recent months," he noted.
The country's overall import payments came down to $ 26.78 billion in the July-April period of the FY '13 from $ 29.54 billion of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
BBN/SSR/AD-20July13-1:18 pm (BST)
