The country’s import bill payment registered a negative growth in the first eight months of the current financial year on year-on-year basis as the import of capital machinery, industrial raw materials and intermediate goods declined sharply amid a low-key investment situation, said Bangladesh Bank officials. According to the BB data released on Tuesday, the overall import bill payment in July to February of the FY 2012-13 posted a negative growth of 11.07 per cent compared with that of 13.62 per cent growth during the corresponding period of the FY 2011-12.
A BB official told New Age on Tuesday that an unfavourable business environment due to the recent political violence and the contractionary monetary policy taken by the central bank for the July-December term of 2012 had affected the import bill payment.
The BB data showed the settlement of letters of credit or import bill payment in July-February of the FY 2012-13 stood at $21.25 billion against that of $23.90 billion in the same period of the FY 2011-12.
LC opening in the period of the FY 2012-13 also posted a negative growth of 4.52 per cent compared with that of a negative growth of 7.54 per cent in the same period of the FY 2011-12.
LCs worth $23.15 billion were opened in the first eight months of this financial year against the LCs worth $23.90 billion opened in the corresponding period of the FY 2011-12.
‘Businesspeople are now reluctant to expand their business by importing capital machinery and industrial raw materials due to an absence of a business-friendly environment in the country,’ the BB official said.
The contractionary monetary policy taken by the BB in the last few terms along with the unavailability of power and gas also hit the import payment for productive goods, he said.
The BB data showed that growth in settlement of LCs for industrial raw materials and capital machinery had registered negative growth — for industrial raw materials 6.84 per cent and for capital machinery 18.46 per cent — in July-February of the FY 2012-13.
Growth in settlement of LCs for industrial raw materials was 12.61 per cent and that for capital machinery was 19.82 per cent in July-February of the FY 2011-12.
Settlement of LCs in the first eight months of the current financial year for industrial raw materials was worth $8.70 billion and that for capital machinery $1.35 billion.
LC settlement for industrial raw materials was worth $9.34 billion and that for capital machinery worth $1.66 billion in the first eight months of the FY 2011-12.
The import growth in intermediate goods like coal, hard coke, cement, lime stone and clinker also decreased significantly in the first eight months of this financial year on year-on-year basis.
Settlement of LCs in the first eight months of the current financial year for intermediate goods was worth $1.88 billion against $2.09 in the corresponding period of the FY 2011-12.
The import of food grains also decreased significantly in the period due mainly to a bumper food production, said another BB official.
The BB data showed LCs settlements for food grains (rice and wheat) in July-February had posted a negative growth of 41.38 per cent from a negative growth of 26.83 per cent in the same period of the FY 2011-12.
Settlement of LCs in the first eight months of the current financial year for rice and wheat were worth $408 million against $697.61 million during the same period of the FY 2011-12.
-With New Age input
