FE Report
The country's imports grew by 31.66 per cent during the first four months of the current fiscal over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, officials said.
The value of letters of credit (LCs) against imports worth US$ 7.898 billion was settled during the July-October period of fiscal 2008-2009 compared with $5.999 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
"The country's overall import payment marked a significant growth as fuel import bill rose sharply during the period under review," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
Import of petroleum products sharply rose by 56.61 per cent to $923.03 million during the period against $578.31 million of the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB's data showed.
The BB official also said the import of industrial raw materials and capital machinery rose, which is a good sign for the country's manufacturing sector.
Industrial raw material import spiked 44.31 per cent to $3.353 billion during July-October period of this fiscal. The amount is up by at least $1.03 billion over the corresponding period last year, the BB said.
The BB said import of capital machinery ---industrial equipment used for production --- rose 18.84 per cent to $558.36 million, reflecting a rising confidence among entrepreneurs in the country's future industrial prospects.
Food import continued to decline as the country built enough stock for the main staple rice after a bumper Boro crops in May last, they added.
The BB figures showed food grains such as rice, wheat and corn fell by 37.92 to $240.48 million in the period over the same period last fiscal.
The import of intermediate goods such as clinkers, steel sheets and aluminum also grew by 36.02 per cent to $646.96 million in the period against $475.63 million of the same period of the previous fiscal.
Imports grow by 31.66pc in 4 months
FE Team | Published: December 13, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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