BB buys another $313m from 22 banks to curb dollar slide

Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday purchased fresh $313 million from 22 banks in an attempt to halt the sharp fall of the US dollar against the taka.

The central bank’s forex auction committee made the purchase at a maximum rate of Tk 121.5 per dollar, according to BB spokesperson and executive director Arief Hossain Khan.

He said that the purchasing amount will be added to the country’s foreign exchange reserve balance.

This followed another purchase of $171 million on Sunday, as the central bank moved to stabilise the foreign exchange market after a week of continuous decline in the dollar rate.

As a result of the intervention, the dollar rate rebounded to Tk 121.5 on Tuesday, up from Tk 119.5 on Monday — marking a Tk 1.4 rise in a day.

The greenback had dropped by Tk 3.3 over the past week, driven by declining demand and a surge in foreign currency inflows from remittances and exports.

On Monday, banks were buying dollars at Tk 119.5–120, a steep fall from Tk 122.80–122.90 just a week earlier, on July 7.

Bankers said that the ongoing trade and tariff discussions with the United States, a slowdown in investments, and increased inflows from remittances and exports in unison have contributed to the plunge in dollar rate.

With fewer import letters of credit (LCs) being opened and many banks eager to offload their dollar holdings, the demand of dollars in the market has reduced considerably, they said.