BB buys more dollars to stem fall of the greenback

The central bank purchased US$38 million more from two commercial banks Monday to keep the inter-bank foreign-exchange market stable against possible volatility, officials said.
Such intervention by the state bank in the money market is believed meant for providing a shield against shedding value of the greenback in exchange rate with the local currency in the interest of two major stakeholders in the national economy.         
"We've bought the US currency from the banks directly at market rate to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the US dollar stable," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told FE.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.80 on the inter-bank forex market--unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
The central banker also said the BB may continue such intervention in line with the market requirement.
A total of $2.42 billion has been bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and Match 23 of the current fiscal (FY) 2014-15 as part of the market intervention.
Country's foreign-exchange reserves rose to around $22.78 billion Monday from $22.76 billion of the previous day following the US dollar purchase.
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