BB snaps up $64m as Eid nears

The central bank has boosted purchase of the US dollar from banks ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha in an attempt to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
As part of the move, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) bought US64 million directly from eight commercial banks Tuesday.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.80 in the inter-bank forex market on the day, unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.
"We've expedited purchase of the US dollar from the banks to maintain a balance between supply and demand as inflow of the foreign currency ahead of the Eid increased" a BB senior official told the FE.
He also said the supply side of the foreign currency is improving gradually due to higher inflow of remittances along with steady growth in export earnings.
Bangladesh received $502 million in money sent home by expatriates between September 01 and September, according to the central banker.
"We expect that the inflow of remittances to cross $1.20 billion by the end of this month, if the existing trend continues," he noted.
The central bank is purchasing the US dollar from the banks continuously to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of local currency against the greenback stable.
A total of $1.35 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and September 15 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 for offsetting its increased supply to the market.
The central bank bought $3.76 billion from commercial banks in the last financial year.
In FY'14 and FY'13, the central bank had bought $5.15 billion and $4.54 billion respectively, the BB data showed.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said such purchase helps the banks comply with the net open position (NOP) rules for holding foreign exchange properly.
"The BB may continue buying of the US dollar from the banks in line with the market requirement," the central banker hinted.
Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve rose to $25.76 billion Tuesday from $25.65 billion of the previous day after US dollar purchase.
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