A good number of imported food items, including the nutritious ones for babies and elderly people, are gradually disappearing from the market due to Bangladesh Bank's stringent rules on opening Letters of Credit (L/Cs).
Many of them operate with limited capital and cannot afford such high L/C margin.
Keeping in view, the Financial Institutions Division (FID) under the Ministry of Finance sent a letter to the Bangladesh Bank on June 24, 2025, requesting it to allow traders to open L/Cs with margins of 10 to 15 per cent for foodstuffs import.
On September 5, 2024, the central bank issued a circular, keeping 100 per cent cash margin for import of 14 categories of products including motor vehicle, electrical and electronics, gold jewelries, precious metal, readymade garments, leather goods, jute goods, furniture and cosmetics, fruits and flower, non-serial food, processed foods, cannoned foods, chocolates, biscuits, juices, coffee, soft drinks, alcohol, tobacco.
However, some of the products have been excluded from the list, keeping the LC margin unchanged for foodstuffs.
Importers claimed that the BB directive has remained pending for nearly four months, creating problems for import of essential food items that have no local substitutes.
President of the Bangladesh Foodstuff Importers and Suppliers Association (BAFISA) Mohammad Borhan E Sultan said although such items are entirely import-dependent, several bureaucratic and financial obstacles are creating roadblocks to their imports. "In an open market economy, there is no logic behind such restriction on import of healthy and nutritious foods in any country," he said.
He also identified port demurrages caused by delays of 10 to 12 days in releasing goods, high port tariffs, and complexities in obtaining test reports from the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) as other key barriers to import of products.
Managing Director of Shwapno said Shabbir H Nasir said: "We are facing huge shortage of some imported foodstuffs that general people consume as healthy foods."
Around 30 to 40 per cent of imported foodstuffs are missing in the market, which may aggravate further unless the government relaxes LC margin requirement, he added.
Bangladeshi importers source food items from the USA, UAE, North America, Canada, Africa, Australia, and various Asia-Pacific countries, it was learnt.
Dr. Md Ezazul Islam, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Bank, said the central bank has already relaxed L/C margin requirements for several essential items, including fresh fruits.
"We have not imposed any new restrictions since the country's foreign exchange reserves have reached a satisfactory level," he said, assuring that the issue would be addressed.
He further said in some cases, the opening of L/Cs for such products depends on the bank-client relation, as well as the banks' confidence in the importers.
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