Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday purchased record $265 million, highest in a day, in an attempt to halt the fall of the US dollar against the taka.
The purchasing amount will be added to the country鈥檚 foreign exchange reserve balance, BB officials said.
Since July 13, the Bangladesh Bank purchased around $1.5 billion to stabilise the foreign exchange market after continuous decline in the dollar rate.
As a result of the intervention, the dollar rate remained at Tk聽122, which dropped to Tk聽119.5 on July 12.
Over the past three years until fiscal year 2024-25, the BB sold more than $25 billion from its foreign exchange reserves, largely to cover import bills for fuel, fertiliser and food, which cut forex reserve to $18 billion.
In March this year, as foreign exchange reserves began to rebound and the decline of taka slowed, the central bank began to purchase dollars.
BB officials said that the central bank was buying dollars to maintain a steady supply of the greenback as a weaker dollar could hurt remittances and exports.
Bankers said that the increased inflows from remittances and exports in unison have increased the dollar supply.
Moreover, 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.
In FY25, remittances through official channels surged to $30.3 billion, registering a 26.8 per cent increase, aided by a competitive exchange rate, government incentives, wider use of agent banking and mobile financial services, and tighter scrutiny of informal transfers.
Exports also gained during the same period, while import growth slowed to just 2.4 per cent in FY25.
Since December 2021, the dollar had steadily appreciated against the taka, climbing from Tk 84.81 in June 2021 to Tk 93.45 in June 2022, and reaching Tk 106 in June 2023.
On December 24, 2024, the Bangladesh Bank requested certain banks not to purchase dollars above Tk 123, amid growing criticism of its poor oversight, which has driven the greenback鈥檚 price to an alarming Tk 128 against taka.
This trend reflected the volatility and acute demand of dollars in the market during the last four years.
On May 14, 2025, Bangladesh Bank announced a shift from its long-standing managed exchange rate regime to a market-based system amid recommendation from International Monetary Fund.
Gross foreign exchange reserve hit $30.3 billion on September 7.
According to International Monetary Fund guidelines, Bangladesh鈥檚 reserves stood at $25.39 billion on September 7.
