US Dollar File photo
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh has sold $14 million to two commercial banks directly to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market, officials said.
“The central bank sold the US currency to the banks at market rate on Thursday to settle their import payment obligations particularly for food grains and fuel oils,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The banks, which purchased the greenback from the BB, are Rupali Bank Limited and Shahajalal Islami Bank Limited.
However, the exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) remained unchanged against the US dollar in the inter-bank forex market on the day.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 80.80 each, unchanged from the previous level, according to the market operators.
The central banker also said the BB may continue providing such support to the banks in line with the market requirement.
The central bank of Bangladesh recently resumed providing the foreign exchange support through selling of the US dollar to the banks directly to keep the market stable.
Earlier on Wednesday, the central bank sold $38 million to three banks on the same ground.
The BB sold a total of $144 million since July 01 of this fiscal year, 2017-18, to the commercial banks as part of its ongoing support.
The central bank had sold the US dollar to the banks for making their import payments against petroleum products and food grains.
The demand for the US currency is increasing gradually, mainly due to higher import payments pressure, particularly of capital machinery, petroleum products, consumer items including food grains, and scrap vessels, the operators added.
BBN/SSR/AD