Country\\\'s imports fall significantly

The country's overall imports fell significantly in October over the previous month due mainly to the ongoing political turmoil centring the next general election, officials said Wednesday.
Opening of letters of credit (LCs) against imports, generally known as import orders, dropped by 11.23 per cent to $2.79 billion in October from $3.15 billion the previous month, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, the settlement of LCs, generally known as actual imports, decreased by more than 8.00 per cent to $2.84 billion in October 2013 from $3.09 billion in September.
"Overall imports may fall further in the coming months if the ongoing political confrontation continues," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
He said the Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja festival holidays also contributed to the decrease in overall imports in the month of October.
"Import of different essential products including capital machinery, raw cotton and back-to-back imports for readymade garment (RMG) sector decreased during the period under review," the central banker noted.
The actual import of capital machinery dropped by 18.50 per cent to $119.82 million in the month of October from $147.02 million the previous month, the BB data showed.
The back-to-back imports for RMG products including fabrics and accessories fell by more than 11 per cent to $492.18 million in October from $555.65 million of the previous month.
 "It's a bad signal for the economy. The country's overall export may fall in the coming months if the declining trend of RMG products import continues," the BB official explained.
The actual import of raw cotton came down to $152.24 million in October from $197.21 million in September 2013.
Echoing the BB official, a senior official of a leading private commercial bank said the country's overall imports are likely to fall in the coming months if the political turmoil continues.
 "Some importers are maintaining a 'go-slow' policy to avoid financial risk due to the ongoing political uncertainty," the private banker noted.