Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) -The central bank of Bangladesh sold US$40 million more to three state-owned commercial banks (SCBs) on Monday for settlement of their import bills for petroleum products, officials said.
"We've sold the US currency at market rate to three SCBs on the day directly to meet the growing demand for the greenback," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, told BBN in Dhaka.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 77.14- BDT 77.20 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on the day against BDT 77.01- BDT 77.10 of the previous working day, according to the central bank statistics.
The central banker also said the BB has stepped up foreign currency support to the banks to settle outstanding letters of credit (LCs) against imports of fuels, fertilizer and power plant equipment.
On Sunday, the BB also sold $43 million to a SCB on the same ground.
The country's foreign exchange reserve stood at around $9.20 on Monday after the sale of $40 million by the central bank to the banks, the BB official added.
The BB has so far pumped in $610 million directly to the commercial banks to meet their increasing demand for the greenback in the current fiscal year, the central bank official added.
“Such operation will continue in line with the market requirement,” he said, adding that the central bank is monitoring the overall market situation closely.
BBN/SSR/AD-05Dec11-8:50 pm (BST)
