Supply of essentials to remain smooth during Ramadan, hopes BB

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FE Report
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) expects the supply of the essential commodities to remain steady and smooth during the holy month of Ramadan following a rise in imports of such items.
"We are hopeful about the smooth supply of the essential items in the local markets during the upcoming Ramadan," the BB Governor Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters after a meeting with the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission.
He also said the imports of essential commodities have increased in terms of value and quantity to meet the growing demand for the essentials in the local markets.
Bankers agreed with the BB governor, saying that a good number of letters of credit (LCs) against imports, particularly for essential items, were opened and some of these LCs had already been settled and some were under process.
"We expect an increased supply of the essentials during the holy Ramadan," a senior official of a nationalised commerce bank told the FE.
Opening of fresh LCs against imports significantly increased during the first two months of the current fiscal against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The overall trend of opening of LCs against imports during the first 54 days of the current fiscal increased by 20.32 per cent over that of the first 55 days of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
During the period, the opening of import LCs of some essential items including rice, wheat, sugar, milk food, edible oils, pulses and onion also rose.
The BB governor said the central bank informed the IMF delegation of Bangladesh's efforts to improve the supply situation. "The inflation will come down if we can improve the supply situation," he observed.
During the meeting, the central bank informed the visiting IMF team that the BB would pursue its monetary policy in line with the requirements of the country's economy.
"The central bank will take steps that are necessary for the country," the BB governor said during the meeting with the mission, held at the central bank Thursday.
A five-member team, led by IMF's Adviser for the Asia and Pacific Department Thomas Rumbaugh, met the central bank chief as part of its two-week exploratory mission for future programme support to Bangladesh that began Wednesday last.
Currently, the IMF mission is reviewing the country's most recent macroeconomic situation, including the impact of the ongoing reform programmes that are being pursued by the present government.