The country's overall import growth witnessed a marked fall in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (FY) due to lower payments on fuel import and the political unrest in January last.
The import growth rate came down to 6.65 per cent in the July-January period of the FY 2014-15 from 13.34 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
"The overall imports increased but the growth slowed during the period under review mainly due to lower prices of petroleum products in the international market," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
He also said normal business activities, including imports had been hampered by the ongoing political deadlock.
"The overall imports started showing a downtrend in December last as there was the apprehension of a political chaos," the central banker explained.
The overall pressure on import payments might fall further, he added, in the months ahead, if the ongoing political standoff continues.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of a leading private commercial bank said most of the importers were now following a 'go-slow' policy to avoid any financial risk due to the political unrest.
"The supply chain has been severely affected since January 5 in the face of the countrywide blockade and shutdowns, enforced by the BNP-led 20-pary alliance," the senior banker explained.
The actual imports in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$ 22.63 billion (2,263 crore) during the last July-January period from $ 21.22 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The BB data showed that the actual import payments stood at $ 18.72 billion in the July-January period of the FY '13.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, increased by 10.55 per cent to $ 24.79 billion in the first seven months of the FY '15 from $ 22.42 billion in the corresponding period of the FY '14. It was $ 20.28 billion in the July-January period of the FY '13.
Fuel oil import dropped by 6.52 per cent to $ 2.27 billion during the first seven months of the FY '15 from $ 2.42 billion of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
"We're saving more than $ 200 million every month because of the lower prices of petroleum products in the global market," another BB official told the FE earlier.
The import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production rose by 23.87 per cent to $ 1.72 billion during the first seven months of this fiscal against $ 1.39 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Higher imports for sectors, including power and energy, leather and tannery, electronic items, food processing, textile, ship building, ceramic and melamine have contributed to the rise in the overall capital machinery import during the period, according to the BB officials. However, the food grain imports, particularly rice and wheat, increased by 1.91 per cent to $ 799.40 million during the July-January period of the FY '15 from $ 784.39 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The import of intermediate goods, like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels, increased by 9.31 per cent to $ 1.84 billion from $ 1.69 billion.
On the other hand, the import of industrial raw materials rose by 4.98 per cent to $ 8.92 billion from $ 8.50 billion.
The import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed 12.93 per cent growth to $ 2.28 billion from $ 2.01 billion.
siddique.islam@gmail.com
Imports up, but growth slows
Siddique Islam | Published: March 01, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: February 28, 2015 23:39:27
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