Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday bought an additional US$67 million from seven banks through an auction in the interbank spot market, reinforcing its efforts to stabilise the exchange rate amid ongoing volatility.
The purchase was conducted under the Multiple Price Auction method, with a cut-off rate of Tk 122.30 per dollar, central bank officials said.
Since July 13, the central bank has purchased a total of $2.87 billion directly from commercial banks under the prevailing free-floating exchange rate regime, according to official data.
“We are purchasing US dollars from commercial banks to keep the exchange rate stable, which in turn supports export earnings and remittance inflows,” a senior central bank official said.
The official noted that the move has also helped ease liquidity pressure at several banks, including weaker ones, by allowing them to offload excess dollars. The interventions are contributing to a gradual strengthening of the country’s foreign exchange reserves, he added.
Bangladesh’s gross forex reserves rose to $32.48 billion on December 17 from $32.12 billion on December 11, based on the central bank’s traditional accounting method.
Under the IMF’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), reserves stood at $27.82 billion during the same period, up from $27.45 billion, Bangladesh Bank data showed.
