Overall imports rise 9pc in Q1 on food grains

The country's overall imports grew by nearly 9.0 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, mainly due to higher import of food grains, particularly rice and wheat, officials said.
"The overall imports increased during the period under review mainly due to higher import of food grains, besides capital machinery and industrial raw materials," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Monday.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) increased by 8.98 per cent to US$8.83 billion during the July-September period of FY 14 from $8.10 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by 9.79 per cent to $9.60 billion in the Q1 of FY 14 from $8.75 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
The actual import of rice jumped by more than 495 per cent to $50.92 million during the July-September period of FY 14, from only $8.56 million in the same period of FY 13, while wheat import increased by nearly 114 per cent to $395.78 million from $184.97 million.
 "The rising trend in rice and wheat imports continued in the Q1 of FY 14 to meet the growing demand for the essentials in local market," the BB official explained.
He also said higher import of food grains, if continues, will fuel inflationary pressure on the economy.
Import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production rose by 15.01 per cent to $566.54 million during the period against $492.61 million during the corresponding period of FY 13.
 "Higher import for textile, garment, pharmaceuticals, and energy and power sectors has contributed to raise the overall capital machinery import during the July-September period of FY 14," another BB official said.
He also said import of capital machinery may fall in the coming months, if the ongoing political turmoil continues.
Import of intermediate goods, like - coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels, increased by 3.76 per cent to $817.48 million in the Q1 of current FY from $787.86 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
Industrial raw material import rose by 14.15 per cent to $3.66 billion during July-September of FY 14 from $3.21 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal.
However, import of petroleum products dropped by 25.69 per cent to $821.81 million during the Q1 of this fiscal from $1.10 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
 "The import of fuel oil may fall further in the coming months because of seasonal effect," the central banker noted.