The inter-bank call money rate remained almost stable on Monday, the last working day before the Eid-ul-Azha vacation, as the central bank injected liquidity worth Tk 32 billion into the market.
"We've injected fresh fund into the market using different instruments aiming to keep the market stable before the Eid holidays," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
The central bank provided Tk 21 billion to five commercial banks, using its assured liquidity support facility to help manage their funds smoothly.
On the other hand, a total of Tk 11 billion was also injected into some 'cash hungry' banks at 6.0 per cent interest rate through holding repo auction on the same ground.
"We expect that the inflow of fund would increase after the Eid vacation," the central banker noted.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said the weighted average rate (WAR) on call money edged up to around 5.0 per cent, from 4.52 per cent of the previous day.
The call money rate has been showing an upward trend since August 12, mainly due to higher withdrawal of cash money from the banks ahead of the Eid.
The average rate was 2.17 per cent on August 12, 2018 from 1.87 per cent a day ago, the BB data showed.
The volume of overall transactions in the market reached Tk 115.98 billion on August 16 from Tk 84.89 billion on August 12.
Besides, a few banks received term deposits from other banks offering higher rates to meet their growing demand for liquidity before the festival, according to the market insiders.
The liquidity pressure on the market accelerated in the market after two state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) became borrowers from lenders earlier, they explained.
The central bank has also asked the banks to ensure round-the-clock operations of their alternative delivery channels (ADCs) during the Eid-ul-Azha holidays in order to facilitate smooth transactions. Such channels include ATM (automated teller machine), POS (point of sale), e-payment gateway and mobile financial services (MFS) through which customers can access required financial services.
The scheduled banks will remain closed from August 21 to August 25 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and weekly holidays.
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