Greenback gainer against BDT
Sunday, 6 January 2008
Sarwar Zahan
The US dollar was gainer against the Bangladesh taka (BDT) in the inter-bank foreign exchange market last week because of lower demand for the greenback, fund managers said.
The demand for the dollar was lower due to decrease in import payments and post-festival inertia in the market. The supply of the dollar, on the other hand, increased in the market with higher flow of inward remittance and export proceeds, they said.
The exchange rate of the greenback moved between Tk 68.55 and Tk 68.58 against the previous week's range of between Tk 68.48 and Tk 68.58 in the interbank foreign exchange market, fund manager sources said.
The easing of call money rate was unable to encourage customers to become active in foreign currency transactions. The commercial banks also continued to avoid cross-currency transactions, they said.
The greenback, however, appeared marginally stronger in public deals and the cash dollar in public deals was exchanged at rates between Tk 67.55 and Tk 69.75 against the previous week's range between Tk 67.42 and Tk 69.75, funds managers said.
In the informal market, the greenback was steady and it was traded at rates varying between Tk 68.00 and Tk 68.50 against the previous week's range between Tk 68.10 and Tk 68.50. The brokers used to buy the dollar mainly at rates between Tk 68.00 and Tk 68.20 and sold it between Tk 68.10 and 68.30, money dealers said.
The spot transactions in greenback stood at around $33.80 million during the week, but the swap deals increased to stand at around $ 56.00 million. The dealer banks were less interested in making swap deals against customer requirements to fund their import payment obligations instantly. The higher use of swap deals is usually taken as a discouraging market behaviour, they added.
The central bank actively monitored and supervised the activities of the dealer banks to check unnecessary transactions in dollar for ensuring discipline in the foreign exchange market, sources said.
The central bank was more engaged in maintaining demand-supply balance and it refrained from withdrawing from the market or injecting cash to influence the call money rate. The objective was to keep pressure on liquidity position of local currency so that buyers of the foreign currency might not feel encouraged to buy the greenback, fund managers said.
The commercial banks as usual offered high exchange rates to Bangladeshi expatriates for encouraging them to send their money through the banking channel, fund managers said.
Bankers forecast stability in the local foreign exchange market in the coming days.
In the regional market, most of the currencies were steady against the dollar. The exchange rate of the Indian rupee against the taka ranged between Tk 1.56 and Tk 1.77.
The US dollar was gainer against the Bangladesh taka (BDT) in the inter-bank foreign exchange market last week because of lower demand for the greenback, fund managers said.
The demand for the dollar was lower due to decrease in import payments and post-festival inertia in the market. The supply of the dollar, on the other hand, increased in the market with higher flow of inward remittance and export proceeds, they said.
The exchange rate of the greenback moved between Tk 68.55 and Tk 68.58 against the previous week's range of between Tk 68.48 and Tk 68.58 in the interbank foreign exchange market, fund manager sources said.
The easing of call money rate was unable to encourage customers to become active in foreign currency transactions. The commercial banks also continued to avoid cross-currency transactions, they said.
The greenback, however, appeared marginally stronger in public deals and the cash dollar in public deals was exchanged at rates between Tk 67.55 and Tk 69.75 against the previous week's range between Tk 67.42 and Tk 69.75, funds managers said.
In the informal market, the greenback was steady and it was traded at rates varying between Tk 68.00 and Tk 68.50 against the previous week's range between Tk 68.10 and Tk 68.50. The brokers used to buy the dollar mainly at rates between Tk 68.00 and Tk 68.20 and sold it between Tk 68.10 and 68.30, money dealers said.
The spot transactions in greenback stood at around $33.80 million during the week, but the swap deals increased to stand at around $ 56.00 million. The dealer banks were less interested in making swap deals against customer requirements to fund their import payment obligations instantly. The higher use of swap deals is usually taken as a discouraging market behaviour, they added.
The central bank actively monitored and supervised the activities of the dealer banks to check unnecessary transactions in dollar for ensuring discipline in the foreign exchange market, sources said.
The central bank was more engaged in maintaining demand-supply balance and it refrained from withdrawing from the market or injecting cash to influence the call money rate. The objective was to keep pressure on liquidity position of local currency so that buyers of the foreign currency might not feel encouraged to buy the greenback, fund managers said.
The commercial banks as usual offered high exchange rates to Bangladeshi expatriates for encouraging them to send their money through the banking channel, fund managers said.
Bankers forecast stability in the local foreign exchange market in the coming days.
In the regional market, most of the currencies were steady against the dollar. The exchange rate of the Indian rupee against the taka ranged between Tk 1.56 and Tk 1.77.