Import LCs on essentials up by 13.29pc in July

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The opening of letters of credit (LCs) for imports increased by 13.29 per cent during the first 24 days of July last, compared to that of the corresponding period of the previous year ahead of Ramadan.

"The overall trend of opening LCs for imports, particularly food grains and other essential items, will continue before the month of Ramadan,'' a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Sunday.

A large quantity of essential commodities, particularly wheat, pulses, onion, milk food and edible oils, will be imported normally to meet the growing demand from the consumers during the month of Ramadan, he added.

Import LCs worth US$ 1.581 billion were opened during the period against LCs worth $1.396 billion of the corresponding period of last year, according to the central bank statistics.

LCs, opened for import of some essential items including sugar and onion, rose during the period while those on rice, wheat, milk food, edible oils and pulses marked a fall, the BB's data showed.

Import LCs on sugar increased by $35.92 million in terms of value and the LCs on onion import rose by $6.06 million.

On the other hand, the LCs on rice import dropped by $28.74 million in terms of value. The LCs fell by $17.33 million on wheat import, $6.19 million on milk food import, $16.14 million on pulses and $12.21 million on edible oil during the period.