Bangladesh Taka Appreciates Marginally Against U.S. Dollar
Bangladesh Taka (BDT) on Thursday appreciated marginally by 0.04 per cent against the U.S. dollar as the inflow of the foreign currency has increased in the market, officials said.
The U.S. dollar was quoted at BDT 68.90 - BDT 68.93 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on the day against BDT 68.93 - BDT 68.96 of the previous working day, they added.
'The local currency has appreciated slightly against the U.S. dollar, mainly due to an increase in the inflow of foreign currency in the market,' a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN in the capital, Dhaka.
The central bank of Bangladesh has continued its intervention in the market through buying the U.S. dollar from commercial banks to minimise the mismatch between demand and supply of the foreign currency.
"We've bought the US$5.50 million more from three private commercial banks to enable them to comply with the net open position (NOP) rules for holding foreign exchange properly," the BB official added.
He also said the demand for US dollar has declined slightly due to a fall in import payments because of falling prices of commodities in the global market.
On February 1, 2009, the central bank also purchased $10 million from a Shariah-based Islami bank on the same ground.
The central bank started such intervention in the market by buying the US currency directly from commercial banks since January 15, 2009.
Since then, the BB bought $99.50 million from seven commercial banks as part of its intervention in the market, the officials confirmed.
