Import surges 14pc in five months thru Nov

The country's import grew by 14.58 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY) mainly due to increased purchase of capital machinery, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$19.02 billion during the July-November of FY 2016-17 from $16.60 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
In contrast, the opening of LCs, known as import orders, increased by 6.95 per cent to $ 18.69 billion in the first five months of FY 17 from $17.48 billion a year ago.
"Increased import purchase of capital machinery along with industrial raw materials has pushed up the country's overall imports in the period (July-November)," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.
He also said that the upward trend in imports may continue in the coming months as the implementation of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh goes one.
Import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production jumped by nearly 81 per cent to $2.50 billion in the first five months against $1.38 billion of the same period of FY16.
Higher import for textiles, leather, jute, garment, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding and energy and power sectors contributed to the rise in overall capital machinery imports, according to the central banker.
Talking to the FE, Mehmood Husain, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NRB Bank Limited, said the import of capital machinery might go up further in the near future due to the implementation of different mega projects in the country.
Currently, the government is implementing nine projects under a Fast Track Project Monitoring Committee, headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for quick implementation.
"Some of the corporate entities are planning to open fresh LCs for importing capital to set up new industrial units or BMRE (balancing, modernisation, rehabilitation and expansion) of their existing ones," the senior banker noted.
Mr. Husain also said the BMRE, particularly in the apparel and clothing sector, has helped achieve the 'hefty growth' of the capital machinery imports.
Meanwhile, import of industrial raw materials grew by 8.35 per cent to $6.73 billion during the period under review from $6.21 billion in the same period of the FY 16.
During the period, import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 7.27 per cent growth to more than $2.0 billion from $1.87 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
On the other hand, import of intermediate goods, like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels, decreased by 1.39 per cent to $1.41 billion in the first five months of this fiscal from $1.43 billion in the same period of the FY 16.
However, import of petroleum products dropped by 8.14 per cent to $1.01 billion during the July-November period of FY 17 from $1.10 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The import of petroleum products fell during the period under review in terms of value, not quantity due to lower prices of the fuel oil on the global market, according to the central banker. Import of consumer goods increased by 2.21 per cent to $1.96 billion during the first five months of this fiscal from $1.92 billion in the same period of the FY16, the BB data showed.
Food grain imports, particularly of rice and wheat, dropped by nearly 15 per cent to $477.74 million during the period of the FY 17 from $561.54 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.
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