Significant fall in Oct import orders

Siddique Islam Country's overall import orders dropped significantly in October over the previous month of this calendar year, thanks to a drastic fall in the food grains imports, officials said Monday. Opening of fresh letters of credit (LCs) against imports, generally known as import orders, fell by 22.55 per cent in October over that of the previous month of the current calendar year, according to the central bank statistics. The settlement of LCs, generally known as actual imports, also declined by nearly 4.0 per cent during the period over the previous month of this year, the central bank officials added. "The overall import orders fell during the period under review due mainly to drop in the food grains import significantly," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE. LCs worth $2.76 billion were opened in October compared to $3.56 billion in September this year while the LCs against imports worth $2.93 billion were settled in October 2011 against $3.05 billion in September last, the BB's data showed. The central bank official also said the country has built enough stock for the main staple rice after a bumper Boro crops in May this year. Stock of food grains such as rice and wheat with the government almost doubled at 1.52 million tonnes at the end of October, 2011 against 0.78 million tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the official figures. The figures show that import of food grains stood at 0.73 million tonnes during the July-October period of fiscal year 2011-12 (FY12). It was 5.31 million tonnes in FY11. The import orders for fuel oils increased by nearly 27 per cent to $493.52 million in the month of October last from $389.07 million in the previous month while the LCs against imports worth $499.51 million were settled in October 2011 against $365.88 million in September last. "The rising trend in fuel oils import is likely to continue in the coming months to meet the growing demand for oil-based power plants across the country," another BB official said. He also said opening of LCs for capital machinery import increased by over 67 per cent to $146 million in October compared to $87 million of the previous month. Bankers said the existing declining trend in import may continue in the coming months of this calendar year because of the 'balance sheet management' of the commercial banks.