BB buys $59m from banks in two days
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Siddique Islam
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is purchasing US dollar from the commercial banks directly to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
The central bank bought US$59 million from different commercial banks in the last two working days (Wednesday and Thursday) on the same ground.
A total of US$758.20 million was purchased by the BB from the commercial banks until April 16 of this fiscal, the BB officials added.
"The demand for US dollar has declined slightly because of recent falling trend in opening of letters of credit (LCs) against imports," a BB senior official told the FE Saturday.
The country's overall LC opening for imports dropped drastically by 42.34 per cent during the first two weeks of April compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Import LCs worth US$552.58 million were opened during the first two weeks of April against $958.44 million of the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the central bank statistics.
The BB official also said the central bank continued its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market through selling and buying of the US currency directly besides providing overdraft facilities to the banks.
"We are purchasing the greenback from the commercial banks to help them comply with the net open position (NOP) rules on holding foreign exchange," another BB official told the FE.
He also said such intervention will continue in line with the market requirement.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshis working abroad sent home a record $ 881.31 million in March last, marking a growth of 12.34 per cent over that of the previous month.
"We received over $200 million as remittances in the first two week of this month," a BB official told the FE, adding that the central bank was closely monitoring the flow of inward remittances.
Bangladeshi expatriates sent home a record US$7.029 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal, marking a growth of 24.43 per cent over that of the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
The country received $7.029 billion during the July-March period of fiscal 2008-09 against $5.649 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is purchasing US dollar from the commercial banks directly to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
The central bank bought US$59 million from different commercial banks in the last two working days (Wednesday and Thursday) on the same ground.
A total of US$758.20 million was purchased by the BB from the commercial banks until April 16 of this fiscal, the BB officials added.
"The demand for US dollar has declined slightly because of recent falling trend in opening of letters of credit (LCs) against imports," a BB senior official told the FE Saturday.
The country's overall LC opening for imports dropped drastically by 42.34 per cent during the first two weeks of April compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Import LCs worth US$552.58 million were opened during the first two weeks of April against $958.44 million of the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the central bank statistics.
The BB official also said the central bank continued its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market through selling and buying of the US currency directly besides providing overdraft facilities to the banks.
"We are purchasing the greenback from the commercial banks to help them comply with the net open position (NOP) rules on holding foreign exchange," another BB official told the FE.
He also said such intervention will continue in line with the market requirement.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshis working abroad sent home a record $ 881.31 million in March last, marking a growth of 12.34 per cent over that of the previous month.
"We received over $200 million as remittances in the first two week of this month," a BB official told the FE, adding that the central bank was closely monitoring the flow of inward remittances.
Bangladeshi expatriates sent home a record US$7.029 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal, marking a growth of 24.43 per cent over that of the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
The country received $7.029 billion during the July-March period of fiscal 2008-09 against $5.649 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.