The country's overall import rebounded in August following an upward trend in import of food grains as well as accessories for readymade garment (RMG) sector, officials said.
"The upward trend of import may continue in the coming months, if the political stability continues," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Tuesday.
The settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual imports, shot up by 43.70 per cent to US$ 3.35 billion in August 2014, from $2.33 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year, according to the central bank statistics.
Opening of fresh LCs, generally known as import orders, increased by 21.60 per cent to $3.28 billion in August from $2.70 billion in August 2013.
In July, the first month of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15, the overall import dropped by 8.48 per cent with the import of food grains marking a fall of 43.37 per cent.
But the import of food grains, particularly rice and wheat, rose to $109.55 million in August 2014 from $105.04 million a year earlier, the BB data showed.
The import of food grains witnessed a rising trend in this August because of seasonal effect, the central banker explained.
"The import of food grains may rise in the coming months to meet the growing demand for the essential items," the BB official noted.
In FY 14, the import of food grains shot up by more than 112 per cent to $1.41 billion from $664.29 million in the previous fiscal year.
The central banker also said import of some essentials, including edible oil, sugar, onion and spices, increased in August ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha and the Durga Puja festivals.
The BB data shows that back-to-back import for RMG products, including fabrics and accessories, increased by more than 6.0 per cent to $509.70 million in August from $479.34 million in the same period of the previous year.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said the back-to-back import of RMG accessories increased in August following an increased demand for the garment products abroad.
The country's apparel export increased marginally by 1.72 per cent in the first two months of FY 15 despite facing odds in both internal and external arenas.
The overall apparel export rose to $4.23 billion during July-August from $4.16 billion a year ago, according to the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics.
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