The central bank has geared up purchase of the US dollar from the banks as a counterbalancing measure to keep the foreign exchange market stable in the wake of higher inflow of remittances ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
"We're buying the US currency from the banks directly to minimise the gap between the demand for, and the supply of, foreign exchange in the market," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday.
He also said such intervention in the forex market helps protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by way of keeping stable the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback.
"The overall inflow of foreign exchange has increased significantly in recent times as Bangladeshi expatriates are remitting increased volume of currencies for their near and dear ones on the occasion of Eid festival," the central banker explained.
As part of the move, the central bank bought $65 million Thursday from three commercial banks at the market rate to offset the increased supply of foreign exchange to the market.
The dollar was quoted at Tk 77.58-Tk 77.60 on the inter-bank money market on the day against Tk 77.60 in the previous working day, market operators said.
The central bank has purchased $358 million from the banks, so far, in the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 as part of its market- intervention measure, according to the banker.
"We may continue such intervention in line with the market requirement," the BB official said, without elaborating.
Country's foreign exchange reserve rose to $21.26 billion Wednesday from $21.25 billion of the previous day following the dollar-purchase drive.
Bangladesh received $584.95 million as remittance between July 1 and July 11 from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad, according to the central bank statistics.
BB enters forex mkt in big way
FE Report | Published: July 19, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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