Import orders post 6.0pc rise in Aug
Sunday, 13 September 2009
FE Report
The country's overall import orders increased by over six per cent in August this year over the previous month due mainly to the holy month of Ramadan, officials said.
"The overall imports increased in the months of July and August to meet the growing demand of the essential items ahead of Ramadan," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Saturday.
In July last, the import orders grew by 16.55 per cent to $2.019 billion from $1.732 billion in June this year.
The BB official also said settlement of letters of credit (LCs) against imports was almost same in the month of August compared to the previous month.
The import LCs worth $2.143 billion were opened in August compared to $2.019 billion in July last while the LCs against imports worth $1.535 billion were settled in August against $1.590 billion in July, 2009.
"The settlement of LCs, generally known as actual import, may increase slightly this month but the import order would fall after Eid festival," the BB official added.
He also said huge quantities of essential commodities are normally imported to meet the growing demand of consumers during the month of Ramadan, a religious month for Muslims.
Opening of LCs for imports of essentials including wheat, sugar, edible oil, pulses and onion increased in terms of both quantity and value in August over the previous month of this year, the BB officials added.
During the period, opening of LCs for wheat increased by $166.11 million to $259.11 million in terms of value while LCs for sugar grew by $65.49 million to $123.25 million, edible oil by $94.59 million to $358.10 million, pulses by $42.82 million to $114.09 million and onion by $6.41 million to $23.34 million, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs for edible oil increased by 8,15000 tonnes to 950,000 tonnes in terms of quantity while LCs for sugar rose by 148,000 tonnes to 184,000 tonnes, edible oil by 84,000 tonnes to 124,000 tonnes, pulses by 38,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes and onion by 15,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes, the BB's data showed.
The BB earlier asked the commercial banks to bring down the lending rate on import financing for nine essential food items to a maximum of 12 per cent from 13 per cent earlier.
"The central bank had taken the temporary measure aiming to increase the supply of essential items for keeping the prices of the commodities at a reasonable level before and during the holy month of Ramadan," another BB official said.
The essentials are edible oil, sugar, gram, pulses, peas, onion, spices, date and fruits.
The country's overall import orders increased by over six per cent in August this year over the previous month due mainly to the holy month of Ramadan, officials said.
"The overall imports increased in the months of July and August to meet the growing demand of the essential items ahead of Ramadan," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Saturday.
In July last, the import orders grew by 16.55 per cent to $2.019 billion from $1.732 billion in June this year.
The BB official also said settlement of letters of credit (LCs) against imports was almost same in the month of August compared to the previous month.
The import LCs worth $2.143 billion were opened in August compared to $2.019 billion in July last while the LCs against imports worth $1.535 billion were settled in August against $1.590 billion in July, 2009.
"The settlement of LCs, generally known as actual import, may increase slightly this month but the import order would fall after Eid festival," the BB official added.
He also said huge quantities of essential commodities are normally imported to meet the growing demand of consumers during the month of Ramadan, a religious month for Muslims.
Opening of LCs for imports of essentials including wheat, sugar, edible oil, pulses and onion increased in terms of both quantity and value in August over the previous month of this year, the BB officials added.
During the period, opening of LCs for wheat increased by $166.11 million to $259.11 million in terms of value while LCs for sugar grew by $65.49 million to $123.25 million, edible oil by $94.59 million to $358.10 million, pulses by $42.82 million to $114.09 million and onion by $6.41 million to $23.34 million, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs for edible oil increased by 8,15000 tonnes to 950,000 tonnes in terms of quantity while LCs for sugar rose by 148,000 tonnes to 184,000 tonnes, edible oil by 84,000 tonnes to 124,000 tonnes, pulses by 38,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes and onion by 15,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes, the BB's data showed.
The BB earlier asked the commercial banks to bring down the lending rate on import financing for nine essential food items to a maximum of 12 per cent from 13 per cent earlier.
"The central bank had taken the temporary measure aiming to increase the supply of essential items for keeping the prices of the commodities at a reasonable level before and during the holy month of Ramadan," another BB official said.
The essentials are edible oil, sugar, gram, pulses, peas, onion, spices, date and fruits.