BB strengthens forex support to banks

FT ONLINE

The central bank has strengthened its foreign currency support to the commercial banks to settle their import payment obligations, particularly for fuel oils, officials said.

As part of the move, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) sold US$ 55 million directly to two commercial banks on Monday to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market.

The US dollar was quoted at BDT 82.96 each in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market on the day, remaining unchanged from the previous level, according to the market operators.

"We've sold the US currency to the banks at market rate on the day for making their import payment bills, particularly for petroleum products," a BB senior official said.

He also said the central bank may continue to provide such foreign currency support to the banks in line with the market requirement.

BB has resumed giving the support in recent months through selling the US currency to the banks directly to keep the market stable.

A total of $1.63 billion was sold to the commercial banks since July 01 of this fiscal year, 2017-18, as a part of its ongoing support, according to BB's latest data.

The market operators, meanwhile, said the demand for the US dollar is increasing gradually, mainly due to higher import payment pressure, particularly of capital machinery, petroleum products, consumer items and food grains.

The country's forex reserve rose to $32.03 billion on Sunday from $31.93 billion of the previous level, the BB officials added.