The central bank purchased US$60 million more from three commercial banks on Tuesday ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha in an attempt to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
"We've bought the US dollar from the banks directly to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable," a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 78.40 in the inter-bank forex market, unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
On Thursday, BB similarly purchased $85 million from three banks on the same ground.
The central bank has already intensified purchasing the US dollar from the banks to maintain a balance between supply and demand, as inflow of the foreign currency has increased ahead of the Eid, the BB official explained.
"The supply side of the foreign currency is improving gradually following realisation of higher export proceeds along with the rising trend of inward remittance flow ahead of the Eid," the central banker explained.
The flow of inward remittances increased by nearly 18 per cent to $1.18 billion in August, from more than $1.0 billion in the previous month.
On the other hand, the country's overall export earnings rose to $3.30 billion in August from $2.53 billion in July, according to official figures.
Another central banker said such purchase of the US dollar also helps the banks to comply with the net open position (NOP) rules for holding foreign exchange properly.
"We may continue purchasing the greenback from the banks in line with the market requirement," the BB official hinted.
A total of nearly $1.10 billion has been bought from the commercial banks between July 11 and September 06 of the current fiscal year (FY), 2016-17, for offsetting the impact of its increased supply to the market.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve rose to $31.38 billion on Tuesday from $31.31 billion of the previous day, following the US dollar purchase.
On the other hand, the inter-bank call money rate remained stable on the day despite higher withdrawal of cash from the banks ahead of the Eid festival.
The call rate ranged between 2.75 per cent and 4.50 per cent on the day, unchanged from the previous level. However, most of the deals were settled at rates varying between 3.50 per cent and 4.0 per cent, according to the market operators.
However, the total turnover on the call-money market rose to Tk 61.15 billion on Tuesday from Tk 58.61 billion on Monday.
Normally, such short-term borrowings increase before Eid to meet the growing demand for money from the banks, they added.
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