Trade deficit rises 47pc in July-March

The country's overall trade deficit widened by nearly 47 per cent or US$ 2.25 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal year (FY), 2016-17, following higher growth of import payments than export earnings, officials said.
The trade gap rose to $ 7.04 billion in the July-March period of this FY from $ 4.79 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest statistics, released on Sunday.
The trade deficit may widen further in the coming months, if the existing trend of export earnings and import payments continues, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials.
The overall import payments, including those of the export processing zones (EPZs), grew by 11.06 per cent to $ 32.37 billion in the nine months of FY 17 from $ 29.14 billion in the same period of FY 16.
On the other hand, the overall export earnings, including those of the EPZs, grew by 4.01 per cent to $ 25.33 billion during the period under review from $ 24.35 billion in the same period of the last fiscal.
"Higher trade deficit along with a falling trend of inward remittances has pushed down the current account deficit balance further," a BB senior official explained.
The country's current account deficit reached $ 1.38 billion during the period under review from $ 3.35 billion surplus in the same period of FY 16. It was $1.12 billion in the first eight months of FY 17.
The flow of inward remittances dropped by 16.82 per cent to $ 9.06 billion during the July-March period of FY 17 from $ 10.89 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
The remittance inflow was estimated $ 1.09 billion in April 2017, up by $ 15.12 million from that of the previous month. In March 2017, the amount stood at $ 1.08 billion. It was $ 1.19 billion in April 2016.
Talking to the FE, another BB official said the current account deficit balance may decrease slightly in the coming months, if the existing upward trend of remittance inflow continues ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
Meanwhile, the country's overall balance of payments (BoP) came down to $ 2.60 billion during the period under review from $ 3.53 billion in the same period of FY 16.
"Our overall BoP is still in a satisfactory level despite the negative trend of current account balance," the central banker noted.
He also said the higher financial account surplus has helped to keep the overall BoP position almost stable.
During the period, the financial account surplus jumped by 326.81 per cent to $ 3.25 billion from $ 761 million in the same period of FY 16.
Meanwhile, the gross inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 20.34 per cent to $ 2.36 billion during the period under review from $ 1.96 billion in the same period of FY 16.
Besides, net FDI inflow rose by 31.27 per cent to $ 1.44 billion from $ 1.10 billion.
    siddique.islam@gmail.com