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Published : 16 Apr 2026, 06:55 PM
In a sharp reversal from its recent stance on currency stability, Bangladesh Bank has purchased $120 million from the market in just two days, even as the taka weakened against the dollar.
On Thursday alone, the central bank bought $50 million from four commercial banks at a cut-off rate of Tk 122.75 per dollar.
A day earlier, it had purchased $70 million from Islami Bank at the same rate.
The two-day intervention has led to a depreciation of the local currency by 45 poisha per dollar, marking the weakest level of the taka in the past one-and-a-half months.
The move comes barely a week after Bangladesh Bank claimed in an Apr 8 statement that the country’s import and external payment situation was “normal”, with no pressure on the exchange rate.
It had said import payments and external debt servicing were continuing in a “regular and planned manner”.
It noted that $1.37 billion had been paid under the ACU bill in March, while around $180 million in government debt obligations had also been settled recently. Despite this, reserves stood at around $34.35 billion on Apr 6 and remained above $30 billion.
The central bank had also said, “There is no pressure on the dollar market. The value of the dollar is being maintained through normal market mechanisms.
“Overall, foreign exchange supply and demand are currently balanced. Strong remittance inflows, market confidence and discipline have ensured that there is no pressure for depreciation of the taka, and the foreign exchange market remains stable.”
However, the latest dollar purchases signal renewed intervention by the central bank, effectively weakening the taka in the process.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said the central bank bought $50 million on Thursday at the Tk 122.75 cut-off rate from four commercial banks.
Arief, also the executive director of the central bank, added that a total of $120 million had been purchased this month so far, while the total for the current fiscal year stands at $5.61 billion.
In the interbank market, dollars were traded at a high of Tk 122.78 on Wednesday, with a reference rate of Tk 122.88. On Thursday, the reference rate stood slightly lower at Tk 122.84 per dollar.
About one-and-a-half months earlier, on Mar 2, Bangladesh Bank had also purchased $25 million at Tk 122.30 per dollar.
At that time, rising dollar supply in banks had started strengthening the taka, prompting the central bank to intervene to stabilise the exchange rate.
On that day, during former governor Ahsan H Mansur’s tenure, it was the first time Bangladesh Bank had bought dollars from the market at that level.
Just last week, the central bank had even considered selling dollars to maintain stability, citing that banks’ net foreign currency positions -- after liabilities -- had nearly doubled compared to March.
Despite that position, the central bank has now returned to buying dollars, even as reserves stood at $30.20 billion under BPM6 accounting on Wednesday, with gross reserves at $34.87 billion.
