Overall imports grow by 13.49pc in 8 months

The country's overall imports grew by 13.49 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2013-14, following higher import of food gains, particularly rice and wheat, officials said.
"The overall imports increased during the period under review mainly due to higher import of food gains, besides capital machinery and industrial raw materials," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) increased by 13.49 per cent to US$ 24.12 billion during the July-February period of FY '14 from $21.26 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by 12.21 per cent to $25.98 billion in the first eight months of FY '14 from $23.15 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
"The existing upward trend of imports may continue in the coming months as political stability started coming back to the country after holding of the parliamentary elections on January 5 last," the central banker explained.
The actual import of food grains jumped by 119.78 per cent to $898.77 million during the July-February period of FY '14 from $408.95 million in the same period of the last fiscal year, the BB data showed.
"The import of consumer goods including food items may increase in the next month ahead of the holy Ramadan," another BB official said.
Normally, a large quantity of essential commodities is imported to meet the additional demand of consumers during Ramadan, the month of fasting.   
The import of capital machinery has increased by 18.61 per cent to $1.61 billion in the first eight months of FY '14 from $1.36 billion in the corresponding period of FY '13.
Industrial raw material import rose by 10.57 per cent to $9.63 billion during the July-February period of the FY '14 from $8.71 billion in the same period of FY '13.
Import of intermediate goods like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels increased by 1.78 per cent to $1.92 billion during the period under review from $1.89 billion in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.
However, import of petroleum products dropped by more than 3.0 per cent to $2.73 billion in the first eight months of FY '14 from $2.84 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
"The import of petroleum products may increase in the coming months because of seasonal effects," the central banker noted.
He also said import orders for the petroleum products have already increased to meet the growing demand for gasoline across the country.
During the period, the import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed an 18.54 per cent growth to $2.25 billion compared to that of $1.90 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.