Imports in over 11 months go up by 14.88 per cent

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FHM Humayan Kabir
The country's overall imports have risen by 14.88 per cent over the first eleven and a half months of the current fiscal against those of the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
However, in the last month, the imports declined by 12.04 per cent compared to the previous month as import of some essential commodities, capital machinery, textile and ready-made garment (RMG) raw materials recorded a slide.
According to the provisional figures, in May the country imported goods worth $1.345 billion (134.5 crore) against $1.507 billion imports recorded in the previous month, Bangladesh Bank (BB) sources said.
According to the BB statistics, the overall imports during July 2006 to mid-June 2007 grew by $1.974 billion compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
During July 2006 to mid-June 2007, the country imported goods worth $15.246 billion against $13.271 billion goods imported during the corresponding period of the fiscal 2005-06.
Bangladesh Bank sources said the volume of imports fell in May due to less import of some essential commodities like edible oil, rice, sugar, onion, textile machinery and raw materials for the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.
Sources in the business community said the government's recent intervention in doing business might have led to the less imports last month than in the previous month.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Hossain Khaled told the FE on telephone that due to the government intervention and strict monitoring on the country's import and business activities and high prices in the international markets the imports in May declined.
"Some importers are in panic following the government's intervention in their business, which has discouraged them to import essential commodities including edible oil," he added.
According to the central bank's provisional data, the businessmen in May imported refined edible oil worth $0.03 million and crude oil worth $60.12 million. But in April the figures were $0.06 million and $ 126.86 million respectively.
Similarly, the country imported rice worth $28.41 million and sugar worth $23.00 million in May against $39.6 million and $45.7 million respectively in April.
According to the provisional figures, the import of raw materials and accessories for the textile and RMG sectors accounted for $318.05 million and capital machinery $106.66 million in May against $346.08 million and $143.43 million respectively in April.

About the less import of capital machinery and textile raw materials and accessories, the DCCI president said the entrepreneurs are not in a relaxed mood to invest in the industrial sector due to the government's strict monitoring on overall financial transactions.