The inter-bank call money market in Bangladesh experienced a liquidity crisis, causing the overnight borrowing and lending interest rate to reach 8.07%, the highest in over a decade. The scarcity of Taka and dollars in the market was attributed to increased government borrowing through treasury bills and bonds, coupled with banks purchasing dollars from the Bangladesh Bank.
The central bank’s removal of the lending rate cap in July and the introduction of the Six Months Moving Average Rate of Treasury Bill aimed to make interest rates more market-based. Despite a previous decline in interest rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, the call money rate rose to 6.41% in September, indicating a liquidity shortage, particularly in Shariah-based banks. Surplus liquidity dropped to Tk 164,000 crore by the end of September. The upward trend in interest rates is expected to persist due to government reliance on the banking sector for financing and the central bank’s limited issuance of high-powered money.