The import of capital machinery recorded a fair growth in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY) though country's overall imports slowed.
The actual import of all commodities, in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs), increased 1.32 per cent to US$9.92 billion during the July-September period of FY '16 against $9.80 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, dropped by 9.75 per cent to $ 9.78 billion in the Q1 of FY 16 from $10.83 billion in the same period of the FY 15.
"The existing trend of overall imports may continue in the coming months if the downward prices of essential commodities, including petroleum products, on the global market continue," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday.
Most commodity prices are still maintaining a downturn on the global market, the central banker said to explain the reason for overall lower import growth.
Import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production, however, rose substantially by 18.68 per cent to $820.51 million against $691.36 million of the corresponding period of FY '15.
"Higher import for power and energy, food processing, garment, leather, pharmaceuticals, steel and engineering industries have contributed to a raise in the overall capital machinery imports during the period under review," another central banker said.
The import of petroleum products dropped 52.17 per cent to $601.42 million during the Q1 from $1.26 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, mainly due to lower prices of fuel oils on the global market.
The import of consumer goods came down to $1.08 billion in the Q1 of the current FY from $1.17 billion in the corresponding past period.
On the other hand, food-grain imports, particularly of rice and wheat, increased by 0.45 per cent to $301.06 million during the period against $299.72 million in the same period of the FY 15.
Industrial raw material import fell by 3.21 per cent to $ 3.62 billion during the period under review from $3.74 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
"It's a bad signal for the economy as falling trend in import of industrial raw materials may hamper overall production in the near future," the central banker noted.
However, import of intermediate goods, like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels, rose by 3.06 per cent to $775.28 million in the Q1 from $752.29 million in the corresponding period of the FY '15.
During the period, the import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 27.88 per cent growth to $1.24 billion from $967.93 million in the same period of the FY '15.
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