Imports grow 29pc in two months

FE Report brThe country's overall imports grew by 29.01 per cent during the first two months of the current fiscal against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. brThe letters of credit (LCs) against imports worth $3.765 billion were settled during July-August period of fiscal 2008-09 compared with $2.918 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank provisional statistics, released Tuesday. brImport of essentials items including rice, wheat, edible oil and pulses fell slightly in terms of quantity during the period under review against the same period of the previous fiscal, officials said. brOn the other hand, the import of sugar and onion went up slightly during the period against that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. brDuring the period, rice import dropped to 186,000 metric tonnes (MT) from 236,000 MT of the same period of the previous fiscal while import of wheat came down to 40,000 MT from 229000 MT, the BB's data showed. brThe import volume of edible oil stood at 180,000 MT during the period as against 181,000 MT of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal while import of pulses declined to 25,000 MT from 123,000 MT. brOfficials of the commercial banks see the importers to be less interested in importing commodities due to the declining trend in prices in the global market. As a result the overall import of essentials marked a fall in the recent months. brMost of the importers, who are mainly importing essential items, are now maintaining go-slow strategy because of falling trend in prices of the essentials in the international market, a senior official of a private commercial bank (PCB) told the FE Tuesday. brHowever, rice import bill increased by $7.68 million to $77.39 million in terms of value, for sugar by $29.38 million to $ 75.19 million, for onion by $9.0 million to $23.31 million and edible oil by $92.18 million to $ 225.26 million during the period. brThe overall trend of opening of fresh LCs against imports increased by 15.37 per cent during the period against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, they added. brThe import LCs worth US$ 4.141 billion were opened during the period as against $3.590 billion of the same period of last fiscal.br