The country’s rice import increased significantly in the recent months following the lower prices on the global market, according to a Bangladesh Bank finding report.
The BB has recently conducted an investigation to know the cause of the increased trend in rice import. The central bank prepared a finding report in this connection in the first week of this month.
The report said that the rice import increased significantly in the first six months of the current financial year 2013-14 despite the higher production of the crop in the FY 2012-13.
The BB data showed that import of rice increased by 821.62 per cent in July-December of the FY14 compared with that of the corresponding period of the FY13.
Settlement of letters of credit, or generally known as actual import, for rice in the first six months of the FY14 was worth $99.99 million against $10.85 million during the same period of the FY13.
The businesspeople imported a total of 2,10,738 tonnes of rice in the first half of the FY14 although they imported 40,250 tonnes of the crop in the whole FY13. The businesspeople imported 5,57,871 tonnes of rice in the FY12 and 16,66,135 tonnes in the FY11.
The BB report showed that the production of rice had increased by 39 tonnes to 29,781 tonnes in the FY13 from 29,742 tonnes in the FY12. The rice production stood at 29,517 tonnes in the FY11.
A BB official told New Age on Thursday that the businesspeople had imported significant amount of rice as the price of the crop on global market decreased in the first half of the FY13.
The BB report showed that the price of rice on the global market had decreased by 14.28 per cent a
tonne in July-December of the FY14 than the previous six months of the FY13.
The price of rice decreased to $392.96 a tonne in the first half of the FY14 from $458.47 a tonne on average in the FY13. The price of rice stood averagely $504.43 a tonne in the FY12 and $470.66 a tonne in the FY11.
In the first half of the FY14, the price of imported rice stood at Tk 30.65 a kilogram, according to the finding report.
The BB official said that the businesspeople had mainly imported the fine verity of rice in July-December of the FY14.
The retailers sold the fine verity of rice at between Tk 48 and Tk 50 a kg, he said.
Under the circumstances, the rice importers gained a remarkable profit by importing the rice, he said.
Besides, the price of rice on the local market increased in the last few months which also encouraged the importers, he said.
The BB finding report also said that appreciation of the local currency against the US dollar had also encouraged the importers to import more of the essential items to meet the growing demand on the local market.
The local currency appreciated by more than 2.50 per cent
against the greenback in 2013, thanks to higher export growth despite a series of domestic adversities.
The US dollar was quoted at Tk 77.75-Tk 77.77 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on December 30, the last working day of the calendar year 2013 against Tk 79.75 on January 1, 2013.
Bangladesh is now importing rice from India, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and Pakistan.
-With New Age input
