BB gives $65m to SCB to settle fuel import bill

FE Report brThe central bank has provided overdraft (OD) facilities for US$65 million to a state-owned commercial bank (SCB) for settlement of its fuel oil, food grains and fertiliser import bills, officials said. brWe have provided the facility to the SCB against government approved securities to settle import payment bills for the essential items including petroleum products, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Tuesday. brHe also said the central bank will continue to provide foreign currency support to the commercial banks mainly for making payments of fuel oil, fertiliser and food grains purchase from overseas.brOn Wednesday last week, the central bank sanctioned OD facilities for $30 million to another SCB for settlement of its fuel oil import bills. brWe prefer to provide OD facilities than outright sale of the greenback to the banks for keeping the country's money market stable, another BB official. brThe central bank has continued its intervention in the inter-bank foreign exchange market by selling and buying US dollar directly and providing such short term facilities to the banks aiming to keep the market stable.