Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 12 -- The central bank of Bangladesh directly purchased US$162 million from banks in the last three consecutive days to keep the country's foreign exchange (forex) market stable.

"We're purchasing the US dollar from the banks aiming to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) explained.

He also said the central bank may continue purchasing the US dollar from the banks in line with the market requirement.

The US dollar was quoted at BDT 84.95 in the inter-bank forex market on Wednesday unchanged from the level of previous working day, the market operators said.

The BB's i...