Commerce ministry seeks info on import LCs from BB
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
FE Report
The Ministry of Commerce has asked the central bank to furnish details on opening and settlement of import LCs (letters of credit) for 13 essential items on weekly basis.
The government has taken the latest move aiming to curb inflationary pressures on the economy through reining in the soaring prices of essentials, particularly food items.
The essentials, which will come under new monitoring system, are rice, wheat, sugar, soya bean, palm oil, gram, onion, lentil, garlic, ginger, salt, egg and potato.
"We've taken preparations to collect such information from the commercial banks in line with the commerce ministry's requirements," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Tuesday.
The ministry has sought the information to strengthen the ongoing monitoring efforts to check rising prices of some essentials in the local market, the BB official added.
"We'll send instructions in this connection today (Wednesday) asking all commercial banks to provide such information properly," he noted.
The commercial banks will have to provide the number, quantity and value of both opening and settlement of import LCs to the central bank on a prescribed form, the BB official said.
Currently, the central bank is monitoring the overall import position of eight essential items including rice, wheat, sugar, milk food, edible oil, pulses and onion and chemical fertiliser.
The country's consumers' price index (CPI) rose to 7.24 per cent on a point-to-point basis in November last from 6.71 per cent in October 2009 because of the rise in prices of both food and non-food items.
The inflation rate moved up to 5.21 per cent in November 2009 from 5.11 per cent in the previous month on annual average basis, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data.
The Ministry of Commerce has asked the central bank to furnish details on opening and settlement of import LCs (letters of credit) for 13 essential items on weekly basis.
The government has taken the latest move aiming to curb inflationary pressures on the economy through reining in the soaring prices of essentials, particularly food items.
The essentials, which will come under new monitoring system, are rice, wheat, sugar, soya bean, palm oil, gram, onion, lentil, garlic, ginger, salt, egg and potato.
"We've taken preparations to collect such information from the commercial banks in line with the commerce ministry's requirements," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Tuesday.
The ministry has sought the information to strengthen the ongoing monitoring efforts to check rising prices of some essentials in the local market, the BB official added.
"We'll send instructions in this connection today (Wednesday) asking all commercial banks to provide such information properly," he noted.
The commercial banks will have to provide the number, quantity and value of both opening and settlement of import LCs to the central bank on a prescribed form, the BB official said.
Currently, the central bank is monitoring the overall import position of eight essential items including rice, wheat, sugar, milk food, edible oil, pulses and onion and chemical fertiliser.
The country's consumers' price index (CPI) rose to 7.24 per cent on a point-to-point basis in November last from 6.71 per cent in October 2009 because of the rise in prices of both food and non-food items.
The inflation rate moved up to 5.21 per cent in November 2009 from 5.11 per cent in the previous month on annual average basis, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data.