FY 2013-14
Import increases by 8.71pc in 4 months
The country’s import increased by 8.71 per cent in the first four of the current fiscal year 2013-14 compared with that of a negative growth of 11.38 per cent in the
corresponding period of the FY13.
BB officials told New Age on Thursday that import of food grains, capital machinery and industrial raw materials increased remarkably in July-October of the FY14 which
pushed up the country’s overall import in the period.
According to the latest BB data, the settlement of letters of credit, or generally known as actual import, in the first four months of the FY14 stood at $11.64 billion
against that of $10.71 billion during the same period of the FY13.
LC opening, or generally known as import orders, in the first four months of the FY14 also posted a robust growth of 8.90 per cent compared with that of a negative
growth of 12.05 per cent in the same period of the FY13.
LCs worth $12.47 billion were opened in July-October against the LCs worth $11.45 billion opened in the corresponding period of the FY13.
The BB data showed that import of food grains (rice and wheat) had increased by 127.61 per cent in July-October of FY14 compared with that of a negative growth of
42.38 per cent in the same period of FY13.
Settlement of LCs in the first four months of the current fiscal year for rice and wheat was worth $561.43 million against $246.66 million during the same period of
the FY13.
A BB official said that the country had enjoyed available food grains in the last few years, but the production of rice declined in the last fiscal year which pushed
up their import cost.
Farmers have been alleging that they are failing to recover the production cost for the last few years, he said.
He said, ‘The price of rice and its output are directly related. The farmers will harvest more if they get better prices. But lower prices of the crop in the last few
years sent them in a frustrating situation.’
He said that the decline in output of rice in the FY13 had recently pushed up its prices and also forced the country to import the crop more.
The BB data showed that the import of capital machinery had increased by 11.01 per cent in July-October of the FY14 compared with that of a negative growth of 28.16
per cent in the same period of the FY 13.
Settlement of LCs in the first four months of the FY14 for capital machinery was worth $715.43 million against $644.45 million during the same period of the FY13.
The import of huge amount of capital machinery has already raised suspicion that money laundering might have occurred behind the import of the products in the recent
months, the central bankers said.
The import of capital machinery declined hugely in the FY13 but it increased in the recent months of this financial year despite having unfriendly business environment
in the country amid political unrest, he said.
The BB data showed that the import of industrial raw materials had increased by 10.78 per cent in the first four months of the FY14 compared with that of a negative
growth of 4.51 per cent in the same period of the FY13.
Settlement of the LCs in the first four months for the industrial raw materials was worth $4.75
billion against $4.29 billion during the same period of FY13.
Another BB official said that it was a positive sign that the import of industrial raw materials maintained an increasing trend in the last few months.
But the import of industrial raw materials may fall again in a decreasing trend if the existing political turmoil continues in the months to come, he said.
-With New Age input
