Country's imports grew by 5.36 per cent in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 over that of the corresponding period of the last FY.
The growth was mainly due to higher import of intermediate goods and fuel oils, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$ 45.79 billion during the July-April period of FY'19 from $ 43.46 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest data.
However, the import growth during first 10 months showed a downward trend.
The downward trend may also continue during the May-June period of this fiscal year, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials said.
Overall imports grew by 7.32 per cent and 9.04 per cent in the first nine and eight months of this fiscal year respectively, they added.
"Most businesses usually maintain a 'go-slow' policy with regard to import orders in the months of May and June mainly keeping their eyes on the national budget," a senior BB official told the FE on Sunday.
Import may pick up after announcement of the national budget, the central banker said.
Echoing the BB official, MA Halim Chowdhury, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pubali Bank Limited, said the existing trend in overall import may continue until June because of the national budget.
Meanwhile, import of intermediate goods such as coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels etc jumped by nearly 36 per cent to $ 4.65 billion during the period under review from $ 3.42 billion in the same period of FY '18.
Different construction materials imported as intermediate goods for implementing particularly mega projects pushed up overall import payments in the 10 months of this fiscal, the BB official added.
He also said mega infrastructure projects, including Padma Bridge, Dhaka Metro-Rail and Dhaka Elevated Expressway, have consumed the lion's share of intermediate goods.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said higher import of petroleum products also spiked overall import spending during the period under review.
Import of petroleum products including liquefied natural gas (LNG) soared by 24.43 per cent to $ 3.22 billion in the 10 months of FY'19 from $ 2.60 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
"The existing upward trend in fossil fuel import may continue in the coming months due to the diversified use of gasoline products, particularly for power generation," the central banker explained.
Currently, around 50 power plants, out of a total of 129 plants across the country, are running on high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), generally known as furnace oil.
Earlier on May 22, the central bank doubled the deferred payment period for import of raw materials only for power generating enterprises to help ease pressure on the foreign exchange market.
On the other hand, import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production, decreased by 10.63 per cent to $ 3.93 billion during the July-April period of FY'19 from $ 4.40 billion, the BB data showed.
Industrial raw material import also rose by nearly 8.0 per cent to $ 16.29 billion during the period under review from $ 15.09 billion in the same period of FY '18.
On the other hand, import of food-grains, particularly rice and wheat, dropped by 54.48 per cent to $ 1.23 billion from $ 2.70 billion.
Import of consumer goods also slumped by 27.23 per cent to $ 4.83 billion during the period under review from $ 6.64 billion over the same period of the previous fiscal.
Import of consumer goods including food items may decrease further in the coming months due to bumper production of Boro crop, Mr Chowdhury predicted.
However, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, dropped by 19.39 per cent to $ 48.95 billion during the July-April period of FY '19 from $ 60.73 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
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