The country's overall imports fell in April, following lower prices of essential commodities, including fuel oil, in the global market, officials said on Monday.
Opening of letters of credit (LCs) against imports, generally known as import orders, decreased by 5.56 per cent to US$ 3.30 billion in April 2015, from $3.50 billion in the corresponding period of the previous calendar year.
On the other hand, the settlement of LCs, generally known as actual imports, dropped by 1.22 per cent to $3.0 billion during the period under review, from $3.04 billion in the same period of the previous year.
"The imports, in value terms, fell during the period under review mainly due to lower prices of petroleum products in the global market," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
He also said overall imports usually decrease in April, before unveiling the national budget for the next fiscal year in June.
Besides, a substantial quantity of essential items, including food ones, were imported in February and March ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, the central banker explained.
The import orders for fuel oil dropped by 58 per cent to $179.96 million in April 2015, from $428.51 million in the same month of the last calendar year.
Import orders for different essential items, including scrap-vessels, and back-to-back import for readymade garment (RMG) products and capital machinery, increased during the period under review, he added.
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Overall imports fall in April
FE Report | Published: June 02, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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