The inter-bank call money rate remained almost stable on Thursday, bankers said.
The last working day before the Eid vacation saw a substantial rush for the withdrawal of cash from the banks.
The call money rate ranged from 2.0 per cent to 5.0 per cent on the day against the previous rate of between 1.80 per cent and 5.0 per cent.
Most of the deals were settled at rates varying between 2.50 per cent and 4.50 per cent, according to the market operators.
However, the weighted average rate (WAR) on call money rose to 3.85 per cent from 3.73 per cent of the previous working day, the central bank's latest statistics show.
The call money rate has maintained an upward trend since June 06 mainly due to higher withdrawal of cash money from the banks ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, said the operators.
The WAR on call money was 3.44 per cent on June 06 last.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said that the call money rate remained almost stable as the banks manage their funds properly ahead of the Eid.
Most of the bank branches in Motijheel, Dilkusha and other commercial areas of the capital saw people queue up for withdrawing money.
Such a short-term borrowing normally gets increased before festivals as demand for cash grows.
However, the volume of overall transactions in the call money market remained nearly stable in recent days.
The volume of transactions in the inter-bank call money market came down to Tk 65.12 billion on Tuesday from Tk 70.29 billion of the previous working day, the BB data showed.
Senior bankers, however, said the available liquidity helped keep the money market stable despite higher pre-Eid withdrawal of cash from the banks.
The overall excess liquidity with the banks shot up by nearly 11 per cent to around Tk 805 billion in April from Tk 727 billion a month ago as the BB slashed the cash reserve requirement (CRR).
In contrast, the pressure on cash withdrawal from the banks is easing gradually as the uses of credit and debit cards, referred to as plastic money, are increasing in the country, the bankers said.
"The use of cards has increased significantly for purchasing goods and services," M A Halim Chowdhury, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pubali Bank Ltd, told the FE.
A significant number of people are now connected with mobile financial services, agent banking and e-banking that reduces the tendency of holding cash money to their wallets, the senior banker explained.
Currently, some 9.5 million debit cards are being used across the country.
The number of issuing credit cards stood at around 1.0 million.
The central bank has already asked the banks for ensuring transactions through the smooth operations of alternative delivery channels (ADCs) round the clock during the Eid vacation.
Such channels cover the operations of Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Point of Sale (POS), e-Payment Gateway and Mobile Financial Services (MFS).
Transactions using the digital channels such as ATM, internet or online and mobile normally go up significantly on the weekend and holidays.
