The central bank sold $1.57 billion to banks as of Monday. This year import growth is a bit lower, but import growth was under pressure in the previous fiscal year, said central bank officials. Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), Ahsan H Mansur, told the Dhaka Tribune that before the general election, the central bank sold US dollars because the government needed to stabilize the foreign exchange market. "But how long can the central bank keep this up?" According to central bank officials, the central bank has asked banks to sell US dollars at the same rate as that of the inter-bank currency market rate.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 18, 2019 16:30 UTC