BB helps cool money market
Unlike the previous Eid festivals, the inter-bank call money rate is not bustling this year mainly because of Bangladesh Bank's injection of fresh fund into the market.
A huge liquidity currently holding by almost all the banks has also played a key role in stabilising volatility in the money market, operators said.
Eid-ul-Azha is one of the two peak times for a rise in demand for money in Bangladesh. The call money rate was hovering between 3.50 percent and 8.50 percent yesterday.
But, according to market operators, most of the deals were settled at 4-4.50 percent.
“There is no scope for a rise in call money rate at the moment. The central bank is giving money through repo auction and special liquidity support for the dealer banks who want it,” a treasury official at NCC Bank told The Daily Star.
BB sells money to the banks by repurchase agreement, commonly known as repo, to help the market remain stable. The present repo rate is 4.5 percent.
Statistics show that the central bank injected fresh fund amounting to over Tk 900 crore through repo auction at a rate of 4.5 percent on Monday. Another Tk 975 crore was given to primary dealers at the same rate under a special liquidity support.
A primary dealer is a bank that can trade directly with the central bank. Such dealers can participate actively in the auctions.
“All banks have excess liquidity. So the demand is relatively low this year,” a treasury official at Shahjalal Islami Bank said.
According to BB officials, excess liquidity in the banking system stood at Tk 37,000 crore at the end of September, which was Tk 35,000 crore in June.
“Expansion in demand was addressed by BB's proactive role. Banks were also ready to take the withdrawal pressure during Eid,” said Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Pubali Bank.
However the Shahjalal Bank official said the market might witness a hike in rate today.
A senior central bank official of Debt Management Department said they are monitoring the overall money market closely to ensure stability in the market before Eid.
“We're supporting the banks and non-bank financial institutions using different tools to keep the market stable,” the official said.
The central bank also purchased $38 million from different commercial banks on Monday to help them comply with the net open position rules on holding foreign exchange.
As part of the move, the BB bought $1.609 billion from commercial banks until November 23.
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