The Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday pumped a record amount of money into the banking system as clients flooded almost all the branches of banks across the capital before the start of the 7-day vacation today.
The BB lent commercial and primary dealer banks around Tk 16,522.37 crore through special repurchase agreement and liquidity support on Tuesday.
‘This is a record for the BB. It pumped in the huge amount so that banks do not face any liquidity crisis due to heavy withdrawal of cash by the clients before the Eid-ul-Fitr,’ a high official of the BB told New Age.
He said that the banks wanted to borrow Tk 14,258 crore through special Repo but BB gave them Tk 9,878 crore and provided Tk 6,644.37 crore as liquidity support.
The official said that before making Tuesday’s record of pumping money, the BB pumped around Tk 16,300 crore on June 20.
He said that Sonali Bank alone took Tk 2,845 crore on Tuesday, Agrani Bank Tk 2,162 crore, Janata Bank Tk 1,874.42 crore, Prime Bank Tk 1,442 crore and NCC Bank Tk 935.87 crore.
Officials said that apart availing themselves of the BB’s support, the banks also borrowed heavily from the inter-bank call money market.
The banks faced a huge rush on Tuesday, the last full working day for banks before the Eid vacation, as thousands of clients thronged their branches.
‘Most of the clients withdraw cash for spending in the Eid. Many of the clients also cashed the remittances sent by their family members from abroad for celebrating Eid,’ said an official of a private bank in Motijheel.
He said that many of the clients also deposited money to enable their employees to get their salaries and allowances before the Eid.
Because of the rush, clients had to wait for hours in queues in the branches as well as in front of the ATM booths.
‘Although banks in Dhaka and other cities with garment factories will remain open between 9:30am and 12:30pm on Thursday, and most of the banks will remain open on Saturday, clients who left Dhaka on Tuesday or will leave on Wednesday for their home districts withdrew cash on Tuesday,’ said the official.
BB officials said that although banks faced a huge demand for cash, the call money rate remained relatively stable at 14-16 per cent before this Eid, though it was around 20-25 per cent rate before the last Eid.
‘The BB strongly monitored the call money rate to ensure that it does not go as high as it did before the last Eid,’ said an official.
The banks transacted around Tk 5,207.05 crore in the call money market on Tuesday.
An official of a private bank said that although the BB gave support to the market, it was also making a huge profit by giving special Repo at an interest rate of 10.75 per cent instead of the regular Repo of 7.75 per cent.
Courtesy of New Age
