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The central bank purchased US$109 million more through auction from eight banks in the interbank spot market on Wednesday aiming to keep the exchange rate of the US dollar against the local currency stable.
The amount was bought under the Multiple Price Auction method and the cutoff rate was Tk 122.30 per dollar, according to the central bank officials.
The Bangladesh Bank's (BB) latest intervention in the foreign exchange (forex) market came amid a stronger inflow of inward remittances during the first 17 days of the current month.
The flow of inward remittances grew by nearly 25 per cent to $1.97 billion during February 01-17 this calendar year, up from $1.58 billion in the same period of last year.
The central bank of Bangladesh has so far bought $5.15 billion from banks directly since July 13 last under the prevailing free-floating exchange rate arrangement, the central bank's latest data showed.
"We're purchasing the US dollars from banks directly to offset the higher inflow of remittances ahead of the Holy Ramadan," a senior BB official told The Financial Express (FE) while explaining the latest market situation.
"The ongoing intervention is also contributing to a gradual strengthening of the country's foreign exchange reserves," the central banker noted.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's gross forex reserves rose to $34.54 billion on February 17 from $34.32 billion on February 10 last as per traditional calculation of the central bank.
Under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Balance of Payments International Investment Poisson Manual-six edition, the forex reserves stood at $29.86 billion during the period under review from $28.69 billion.
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