Import marks significant fall in July

Country's overall import registered a significant fall in July last after showing upward trends in May and June when traders brought in large quantities of essentials to meet the demand during holy Ramadan.

 "The overall import normally falls after announcement of the national budget and the Ramadan," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Thursday.

Opening of fresh letters of credit (LCs) against import, generally known as import orders, fell by 18.82 per cent in July over that of the previous month of the current calendar year, according to the central bank statistics, released Thursday.

The settlement of LCs, generally known as actual import, dropped by 14.19 per cent during the period over the previous month of this year, the BB data showed.

The import LCs worth $3.49 billion were opened in July compared to $4.30 billion in June this year while the LCs against imports worth $2.84 billion were settled in July 2014 against $3.31billion in June last.

In May 2014, the import LCs worth $4.15 billion were opened while the LCs against $3.29 billion settled.

The central banker also said the declining trend of import may continue this month but it is expected to rise in the month of September.