Capital machinery, raw material import up 32pc in two months

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FE Report
The country's overall imports grew by 31.84 per cent during the first two months of the current fiscal over the same period of the previous fiscal, thanks to a rise by 45.34 per cent in import of industrial raw materials, officials said.
"The rising trend of industrial raw materials import is a good sign for the economy. It also indicates that the industrial production is expected to get momentum," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday.
The import of industrial raw materials stood at US$1.619 billion during July-August period of fiscal 2008-09 against $1.114 million of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
He also said import of capital machinery recorded a 17.07 per cent growth during the period against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal nearly one year back.
Capital machinery worth $293.64 million were imported during the period compared to $250.81 million of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The letters of credit (LCs) against imports worth $3.847 billion were settled during the period under review compared with $2.918 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB's data showed.
On the other hand, the import of food grains fell by 29.42 per cent during the period over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The import of food gains declined to $97.94 million during the period from $138.77 million of the same period of the previous fiscal.
"Food grains import fell due mainly to seasonal impact as well as the declining trend in prices in the global market," the BB official observed.
Import of petroleum and petroleum products grew by 17.08 per cent during the period and by 10.54 per cent for intermediate goods.
The import of petroleum products reached $435.32 million during the period compared to $371.82 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.
However, intermediate goods worth $251.65 million were imported during the period compared to $227.66 million of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.