The country’s trade deficit increased to $4.94 billion in July-March of this fiscal year against $4.86 billion during the same period of the FY13 because of a sudden jump in import in the last few months with a decreased export growth. A Bangladesh Bank official told New Age that the country’s trade deficit widened in March after a 17-month downward trend.
The trade gap in July-February of the FY14 stood at $3.56 billion while it was $4.59 billion in the same period of the FY13.
The official said that the trade deficit had maintained a decreasing trend between October 2012 and February 2014 but the trade gap widened in March due to higher import payments against lower export growth in recent months.
The trade gap had maintained a declining trend in the 17 months as the businesspeople adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach to expansion of their business by importing capital machinery and industrial raw materials due to political unrest in the period.
The BB data showed that the imports registered an 11.09-per cent growth in the first nine months of the FY14 compared with that of a negative growth of 0.88 per cent in the corresponding period of the FY13.
The import payment stood at $26.90 billion in July-March of the FY14 whereas it was $24.22 billion in the same period of the FY13.
The BB data showed that the country’s imports increased by 30.61 per cent in March of this year against a negative growth of 5.38 per cent in the same month of the last year due mainly to higher import of food, petroleum and chemical products.
The country’s export earnings increased by 13.46 per cent in the first nine months of the FY14 compared with that of a 9.48-per cent growth in the same period of the FY13.
The export earnings stood at $21.96 billion in the first nine months of the FY14 while it was $19.35 billion during the same period of the FY13.
The BB data, however, showed that the growth of the export earnings had recently maintained a declining trend as the year-on-year export growth stood at 13.95 per cent between July and February of the FY14, but it stood at 13.46 per cent growth in the first nine months of this fiscal year.
The BB official said that the trade gap would widen in the coming months as the businesspeople would import more commodity products in the next few months ahead of Ramadan.
The BB data showed that the trade deficit in the service sector increased by 24.70 per cent to $2.87 billion in July-March of the FY14 from $2.30 billion in the corresponding period of the FY13.
In the first nine months of the FY14, the country received $2.51 billion from the service sector but it paid foreign sources $5.38 billion for different services during the same period of the FY13.
The current account balance decreased by 41.78 per cent in the first nine months of the FY14 from that in the same period of the FY13 due mainly to higher import payment and lower inward remittance received by the country in the period.
The current account balance decreased to $1.51 billion in July-March of the FY14 from $2.60 billion in the same period of the FY13.
The net foreign direct investment dropped by 9.26 per cent to $1.14 billion in the first nine months of the FY14 from that of $1.26 billion in the same period of the FY13.
The FDI decreased in the period as the foreign investors showed little interest in expanding their investment in the country due to political unrest and uncertainties.
-With New Age input
