Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh has sold US$25 million more to seven commercial banks to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market.
Taking to the BBN, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said the central bank sold the foreign currency to the banks on Monday at market rate to settle import payment bills.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 83.70 in the inter-bank forex market on the day unchanged from the previous level, according to the market operators.
He also said the BB may continue providing such foreign currency support to the banks in line with the market requirement.
The central bank had resumed providing the foreign exchange support in the recent months through selling of the US currency to the banks aiming to keep the foreign exchange market stable.
A total of $2.12 billion was sold since July 01 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 to the commercial banks as part of its ongoing support, according to BB’s latest data.
The demand for the US dollar has recently increased due to higher import payments pressure, particularly of capital machinery, petroleum products and consumer items including food grains, according to the market operators.
BBN/SSR/AD