Sharp rise in fuel oil import

A sharp 49 per cent increase in the procurement of fuel oils pulled the country's overall import payments up by nearly 12 per cent in the first two months of the current fiscal year (FY), official sources said.
However, the import of capital machinery and industrial raw material recorded a healthy grow during the period, pointing to a possible economic turnaround.
"The overall imports increased during the period under review mainly due to higher import of petroleum products besides capital machinery and industrial raw materials," a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Saturday.
Relevant BB data show the actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LC) increased 11.98 per cent to US$6.43 billion during the July-August period of FY 2014-15. The figure was $5.74 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
On the other hand, the opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by 10.42 per cent to $7.13 billion in the first two months of FY 15 from $6.46 billion in the previous mark.
"The upward trend of overall imports may continue in the coming months if the political stability continues," the central banker noted.
Fuel-oil imports increased 49.05 per cent to $840.40 million during the period against $563.85 million of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The import of petroleum products may fall in the coming months due to seasonal effect, the central banker explained.
Food-grain imports, particularly of rice and wheat, fell to $195.24 million during the period. The import bill on food account was $247.97 million in the corresponding period.
The import of other consumer goods cost $575.84 million in a rise from $490.91 million of the previous mark.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said higher import for textile, garment and energy and power sectors contributed to the rise in the overall capital machinery imports.
The import of capital machinery--industrial equipment used for production -- rose by 25.34 per cent to $476.64 million during the period against $380.28 million of the corresponding period of FY 14.
Entrepreneurs will be encouraged to import more capital machinery for setting up new industries if the government ensures adequate supply of gas and power, particularly to the industrial areas, the BB official observed.
However, import of intermediate goods like coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels dropped by14.56 per cent to $487.75 million during the period from $570.84 million of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
On the other hand, industrial raw material import increased by 4.83 per cent to $2.46 billion during the period under review from a $2.35 billion mark.
During the period, the import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 25.09 percent growth to $657.01 million compared to $525.22 million in the same period of the  previous fiscal.

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