The country’s overall imports increased by 8.60 per cent in October of this year against a 10.79-per cent negative growth in the corresponding month of last year due mainly to higher import of food gains — particularly rice and wheat — and chemical fertilisers.
According to the latest data of Bangladesh Bank released on Wednesday, the settlement of letters of credit, generally known as actual import, stood at $2.84 billion in October of this year. The figure was $2.61 billion in October 2012 and $2.93 billion in October 2011.
The BB data, however, showed that the settlement of LCs in October decreased by 8.17 per cent from that in September this year. The import bill payment stood at $2.99 billion in September.
A BB official told New Age on Wednesday that the imports in the last month increased as the country was compelled to import huge amount of food grains amid a decreased production of rice in the last fiscal year.
The settlement of LCs for rice stood at $19.54 million in October against $1.74 million during the same month of the FY13, the BB data showed.
The settlement of LCs for wheat also increased to $116.21 million in October of this year from $52.96 million in the corresponding month of the FY13.
The BB official said that the country had enjoyed available food grains in the last few years, but the production of rice declined in the FY13 which pushed up the overall country’s import cost.
According to the 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.
The BB data showed that the import cost of onion and chemical fertilisers also increased significantly in October.
LC settlements in October for onion and chemical fertilisers were worth $16.69 million and $171.84 million respectively against $8.96 million and $139.47 million in October 2012.
Another BB official said that the country’s imports maintained an increasing trend in the first few months of the FY14, but the rise in import in last month failed to put much positive impact on the macro-economic situation.
He said that the imports plunged in the last month compared with that in September due to lower import of capital machinery and the back-to-back products of the readymade garment sector.
The back-to-back products include fabrics and garment accessories.
The BB data showed that the import of capital machinery declined to $119.82 million in October from $147.02 million in September.
LC settlements for back-to-back products of the readymade garment sector decreased to $492.18 million in October from $555.56 million in the previous month.
The BB official said that the import of capital machinery and the back-to-back products of the RMG sector declined due to the existing stagnant situation in the business sector amid political unrest.
The BB data showed that opening of LCs against imports, generally known as import orders, increased by 8.01 per cent in October compared with that of a negative growth of 6.22-per cent in the corresponding month of 2012.
In October of this year, LCs worth $2.79 billion were opened by the banks. LCs worth $2.58 billion were opened in October 2012.
-With New Age input
