Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh Bank on Thursday bought another $50 million from four commercial banks at Tk 122.75 per US dollar, as strong remittance inflows kept the foreign exchange market liquid.
The latest purchase came a day after the central bank resumed dollar buying following a gap of about a month and a half, when it had taken $70 million from Islami Bank Bangladesh. With Thursday’s transaction, Bangladesh Bank’s dollar purchases in April have reached $120 million.
The central bank has bought $5.61 billion from the market so far in FY26, after starting dollar purchases at the beginning of the fiscal year as export earnings and remittance inflows improved.
Remittance inflows hit a record $3.75 billion in March and remained strong in April, reaching $1.60 billion between April 1 and 14, up 25.2 per cent year on year, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
Officials said the market currently has enough dollar supply, helped by remittance inflows ahead of Eid-ul-Adha. At the same time, import demand is expected to rise in the coming days, prompting the central bank to build reserves by buying dollars.
Gross foreign exchange reserves rose to $35.03 billion on Thursday from $34.87 billion a day earlier. The central bank had earlier sold more than $25 billion from reserves between FY21 and FY25 to meet import payments for fuel, fertiliser and food.
The interbank exchange rate stood at Tk 122.70 per dollar on Thursday, slightly lower than Tk 122.75 two days earlier, reflecting the ample supply in the market.
