The country's overall trade deficit widened by more than 54 per cent in the first ten months of the current fiscal (FY), 2014-15, due to higher import payments and lower export receipts, officials said.
The deficit rose to $8.49 billion during the July-April period of FY 15 from $5.51 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest statistics, released on Tuesday.
"The trade deficit may rise further in the coming months mainly due to higher import payment pressure ahead of the holy Ramadan," Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of Policy Research Institute (PRI) of Bangladesh, told the FE.
On the other hand, the export earnings are showing lower-than-expected performance, Dr Mansur explained.
"There is no reason to be worried, as the country's has sufficient foreign exchange reserve, and it is growing," he noted.
The foreign exchange (forex) reserve crossed the US$24 billion-mark for the second time on Tuesday, following steady growth in export earnings and flow of inward remittances.
The reserve rose to $24.10 billion on the day, from $23.96 billion of the previous working day. It was $24.09 billion on April 29.
The country will be able to settle nearly seven months' import bills with the existing forex reserve, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
The imports grew by 12.19 per cent to $33.46 billion during the first ten months of this fiscal, from $29.82 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
On the other hand, the country's export earnings grew only by 2.98 per cent to $20.57 billion during the July-April period of FY 15, against $19.97 billion in the corresponding period, the BB data showed.
Besides, trade in goods, deficit in trade in services increased during the period under review. Gap in services trade stood at $3.88 billion during the period under review, which was $3.21 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal. Trade in services includes tourism, financial service and insurance.
The country has earned $2.57 billion in services trade during the first ten months of the current fiscal, while payment on services surged to $6.45 billion during the period, from $5.79 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said such higher trade deficit pushed down the current-account balance significantly, despite uptrend in inward remittances.
Bangladesh received $12.43 billion as remittances during the July-April period of FY 15, registering a 6.86 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The country's current-account balance entered the negative territory in last September due to higher landed imports, recorded by the customs department, according to the central banker.
However, the current-account deficit came down to $1.64 billion in the July-April period of FY 15 from $1.10 billion a year ago.
It was $1.54 billion surplus during the July-April period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The overall balance of payments (BoP) came down to $3.29 billion during the period under review, from $4.30 billion in the corresponding period of FY 14.
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