Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh purchased $75 million more from the commercial banks Tuesday to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
“We’ve bought the US currency from six banks directly at market rate to protect the interest 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.
According to the market operators, the US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.67 in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market on the day, unchanged from the previous level.
The BB official also said the central bank continues to purchase the US dollar from the banks to offset higher inflow of foreign exchange in the market.
As part of the move, the BB bought $65 million from six banks on the same ground.
“We may continue purchasing the US dollar in the near future on the basis of market requirement,” he said.
A total of $4.025 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 1 and April 8 of the current fiscal (FY), 2013-14, as part of BB’s intervention in the market.
“The inflow of foreign exchange has increased recently because of lower import payment pressure, normal inflow of inward remittance and higher growth of export earnings,” he explained.
BBN/SSR/AD-08Apr14-8:10 pm (BST)