BB buys $47m more from four commercial banks

The central bank purchased US$47 million more from four commercial banks Wednesday to help keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said,
"We've bought the US currency directly from the banks at market rate to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the Bangladesh Taka against the US dollar stable," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told FE.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.80 in the inter-bank forex market, unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
The demand side of the foreign currency was weak due to lower import payment pressure following the ongoing political turmoil, the central banker explained.
Earlier on January 12 last, the BB resumed purchase of the US dollar from the banks after around three months because of lower demand for the greenback in the market.
A total of $1.87 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and February 25 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 for offsetting its increased supply to the market. "We may continue such intervention in line with market requirement," another BB official said without elaborating.
The country's foreign exchange reserve rose to $22.90 billion Wednesday from $22.86 billion of the previous day following the US dollar purchase.
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