Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Tuesday snapped up $202 million from 13 commercial banks at Tk122.27-Tk122.29, with a cut-off at Tk122.29, pushing its total dollar purchases in FY26 to a hefty $2.5 billion - a show of confidence that the free-floating regime is holding firm.
Tuesday's buy accounts for roughly 8% of the fiscal year's cumulative mop-up, underscoring the central bank's increasingly targeted, timing-sensitive operations in a market now allowed to breathe more freely.
BB officials say the regulator no longer intervenes to dictate prices but steps in only when liquidity is ample and when adding dollars to reserves helps maintain orderly trading conditions.
"The market moves on its own. We buy when exporters and remitters offer dollars and when the purchase does not unsettle the taka," said a senior official, requesting anonymity.
The decision to accept the day's upper-end rate of Tk122.29 hints that BB snapped up dollars at the top of the intra-day range - either because cheaper offers were thin or because the bank chose to prioritise volume and calm over marginal price bargaining.
Analysts parsing daily flows say buying at the edge of the band may signal two things:
- BB absorbed supply at prevailing offers to build reserves, or
- it willingly met higher quotes to ensure settlement and prevent fresh volatility.
Officials, however, stressed that the move reflected adequate dollar supply, not a tactical chase of higher prices.
Market dealers noted that the narrow Tk122.27-Tk122.29 range left little room for manoeuvre, with the Tk122.29 cut-off effectively serving as the ceiling of the day's operation.
BB has already accumulated $2.3 billion earlier in the year; Tuesday's haul pushes the tally to $2.5 billion, reinforcing its strategy of selective, conditional engagement in a "practically free-floating" market.
