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          The money market experienced a mild pressure on liquidity last week despite increased transactions. The interbank call money rate was at the week's high at 12.0 per cent falling from the previous week's peak at 15.00 per cent, fund managers said.
The call rate, however, remained below the bank rate of 5.00 per cent and it fluctuated between 3.00 per cent and 5.00 per cent in the beginning of the week.
The pressure on liquidity became evident with the withdrawal of cash through auction of treasury bills. The commercial banks and financial institutions continued to show their high interests in buying the treasury bills. Besides, the central bank conducted reverse repurchase agreement (repo) auction to pump out Tk 370 million from the market, fund managers said.
The rate started rising from the middle of the week following the withdrawal of cash. Its lower edge moved above the bank rate in the concluding days, indicating some pressure on liquidity, they said.
The government borrowed a total of Tk 2.014 billion Sunday through the auction of treasury bills. On the other hand, Tk 4.697 billion was injected into the market with maturity of some treasury bills. It resulted in a net inflow of Tk 2.683 billion into the market.
Bidders offered Tk 524 million, Tk 100 million, Tk 1.30 billion and Tk 190 million against 28-day, 91-day, 182-day and two-year bills respectively.
The central bank, however, accepted bills amounting to Tk 524 million, Tk 1.30 billion and Tk 190 million against 28-day, 182-day and two-year bills respectively.
The ranges of their implicit yields were 4.00-4.05 per cent, 5.74- 5.75 per cent and 6.75 per cent respectively per annum.
The central bank seemed to follow a policy of reducing pressure on foreign exchange market by keeping the call rate at a higher level, fund managers added.
Most of the banks tried to use their own sources to meet the demands of their clients. Some banks and financial institutions, however, suffering from cash crisis had to borrow from the interbank market. The call rate, however, predominantly ranged between 4.50 per cent and 8.00 per cent, they said.