The country’s overall import increased significantly in September over the corresponding month of 2012 mainly due to higher import of foodgains—particularly rice and wheat.
According to the latest data of Bangladesh Bank, the settlement of letters of credit, generally known as actual import, registered a growth of 8.37 per cent in September compared with that of 3.66 per cent negative growth in the corresponding month of 2012.
The total import bill payment stood at $2.99 billion in September this year. It was $2.76 billion in September 2012 and $2.87 billion in September 2011.
A BB official told New Age on Monday that the import had increased significantly in September as the import of foodgrains (rice and wheat) and other food products shot up in the period.
On the other hand, opening of LCs against imports, generally known as import orders, increased by 13.76 per cent to $3.11 billion in September last.
The import of rice increased by nearly 11 per cent to $ 23.75 million in September 2013 from $ 21.40 million in the previous month while wheat import jumped by 107.29 per cent to $ 173.38 million from $ 83.64 million, the BB data showed.
In July and August of fiscal year 2013-14, the import of rice increased by 324.12 per cent from that of the same period in the FY13.
The settlement of LCs for rice stood at $26.55 million in the first two months of the FY14 against $6.26 million during the same period of the FY13.
The BB data showed that the import of wheat had also risen by 84.93 per cent in the first two months of the FY14.
The settlement of LCs for wheat increased to $221.42 million in July-August of the FY14 from $119.73 million in the corresponding period of the FY13.
A BB official said that the country had enjoyed available foodgrains in the last few years, but the production of rice declined in the last financial year which pushed up the import cost.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data, rice production declined by 0.087 million tonnes to 33.77 million tonnes in the FY13 from 33.88 million tonnes in the FY12.
Besides, import of different essential products including capital machinery and back-to-back imports for readymade garment (RMG) sector also increased in September, the BB data showed.
Another BB official said that the overall import may decrease in the month of October following a series of holidays on the occasion of Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha festivals.
He said that the importers had maintained a slow policy in the last few months due to the ongoing political unrest ahead of general election.
The rise in import in September is a temporary phenomenon as majority number of the business people have recently adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach due to political unrest, he said.
Under the circumstances, the country’s import will not get a tempo if the political violence continues in the coming days, he said.
-With New Age input
