UNB, Dhaka :
Inter-bank call money rates are moving up amid pressure for cash withdrawal ahead of the two major festivals-Eid-ul-Azha of Muslims and Durga Puza of the Hindu community.
The call money rates were higher on Sunday and Monday than in the last week.
The Eid-ul Azha is scheduled for October 6 while Durga Puza is set for October 2 for celebration in Bangladesh.
The inter-bank call money rates were found to be static on Monday compared with those on Sunday this week. But the rates were a bit higher than those of the last week.
Banking industry sources said inter-bank call-money rates started with uptrend from the first day of the current week as banks experienced higher cash withdrawal by their clients.
The rate of interest on inter-bank borrowings ranged between 5.75 percent and 8.50 percent on Monday. It was the same on Sunday as well.
The last weeks’ call-money rate ranged between 5.25 percent and 8.25 percent.
However, most of the deals were settled at rates varying between 7.25 percent and 8.25 percent, the market operators said.
The weighted average rate (WAR) of the call money was also static at 7.74 percent on Monday as it was on Sunday. The WAR of most of the days in last week was between 7.48 and 7.50 percent, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics.
On the other hand, the total turnover on the call-money market went up to Tk 78.97 billion from Tk 71.93 billion on Monday, the BB data showed.
Officials said mainly the two festivals of the Muslim and Hindu communities have influenced the call-money market resulting in greater transactions as bank clients withdrew more money from the banks.
Money market observers say that transactions on the call money market increases ahead of every big festival like Eid and Puja.
Sources said that Bangladesh Bank has been augmenting injection of fresh funds through assured liquidity support to the banks, aiming to keep the money market stable ahead of the two festivals.
