BB buys $FE Report35m from two pvt banks

The central bank purchased US$35 million more from two private commercial banks Tuesday to help keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said,

"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 Tuesday.

The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.80 in the inter-bank forex market remaining unchanged from the previous level, market operators said.

He also said the central bank has purchased the US dollar from the banks to help them comply with the net open position (NOP) rules on holding foreign exchange.

A total of around $1.78 billion was bought from the commercial banks between July 2 and February 17 of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 for offsetting its increased supply to the market.

"The central bank may continue such intervention in line with the market requirement," the central banker said without elaborating.

The country's foreign exchange reserve rose to $22.53 billion Tuesday from $22.45 billion of the previous day following the US dollar purchase.

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