Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The rate of the US dollar in the inter-bank foreign exchange moved upward further on Wednesday due to buying pressures from the large commercial banks, treasury officials said.

The US dollar was quoted at BDT 72.50-BDT 72.62 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on the day against BDT 72.40 –BDT 72.50 of the previous working day, according to the central bank statistics.

“The rate of US dollar in the inter-bank market has increased because of high demand. It’s a normal practice of the floating exchange rate (FER) regime,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, said.

He also said the central bank is monitoring the overall foreign exchange market situation closely.

On the other hand, the rate of the US dollar for BC (bills for collection) selling to open letters of credit against imports increased slightly Wednesday which indicates higher demand for the greenback in the market, the treasury officials added.

The rate of the US dollar for BC selling rose to BDT 73.18 on the day from BDT 73.15 of the previous day, according to the Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association (BAFEDA) statistics.

BBN/SSR/SI-24Mar11-12:15 am (BST)