Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The exchange rate of the US dollar slipped below Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 79.00 in the foreign exchange (forex) market on Thursday despite purchase of the US currency from the banks by the central bank, treasury officials said.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been buying US dollars continuously from the banks in the recent months to protect the interest of the exporters and migrant workers by
keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable, officials said.
As part of the move, the central bank of Bangladesh bought $36 million on Thursday from three commercial banks at market rate.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 78.95-BDT 78.98 in the inter-bank forex market on the day against BDT 79.00 on the previous day, market operators said.
“We’ll buy more US dollars from the banks on the basis of market requirements,” a BB senior official said, adding that the central bank was now monitoring the overall forex market closely.
So far, a total of $2.976 billion has been purchased from the commercial banks in the current fiscal year (FY) 2012-13 as part of the central bank's intervention in the market, according to the BB officials.
The country's reserve reached $13.473 billion Thursday from $13.375 billion on the previous day, following the US dollars' purchase.
The central banker expects that the demand for the greenback will pick up by the third week of this month as import orders for essential items, including capital machinery, are increasing gradually.
Import orders for capital machinery increased by 1.64 per cent to US$ 1.092 billion in July-December period of the current fiscal year (FY) 2012-13 from US$1.074 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The local currency appreciated continuously against the US dollar in the recent months despite the central bank intervention in the forex market.
The BDT appreciated by 0.98 percent against the greenback in the first 45 days of the current calendar year, thanks to lower import payments and higher growth of inward remittance, the BB officials and bankers said.
The US dollar was quoted at BDT 78.95-BDT 78.98 in the inter-bank forex market on Thursday against BDT 79.7500 on January 1, 2013.
The country’s overall import payment came down to $15.949 billion in the first half of the FY `13 from $17.863 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The overall export earnings increased by nearly 9.0 per cent to $15.154 billion in the July-January period of the FY `13 compared to $13.924 billion in the correspondent period of the earlier fiscal, the official data showed.
On the other hand, the country received $8.716 billion as remittance during the July-January period of FY `13, registering nearly a 20 per cent growth over the same period in the previous fiscal.
BBN/SSR/AD-14Feb13-11:50 pm (BST
