Chittagong port of Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall imports grew by 8.50 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of this fiscal year (FY), 2018-19, following a 78.62 per cent increase in fuel oil import, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$ 12.83 billion during the July-September period of FY 19 from $11.83 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank’s statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, increased by only 0.35 per cent to $14.75 billion in Q1 of FY 19 from $14.70 billion in the corresponding period of FY 18.
“The overall import payments increased during the period under review mainly due to higher import of petroleum products,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the upward trend in fuel oil imports may continue in the coming months also following diversified use of the gasoline products, particularly for power generation.
Import of petroleum products rose to $1.07 billion in the first three months of FY 19 from $597.77 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Currently, around 50 power plants out of the total 122 across the country are running with fuel oil.
On the other hand, import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for production, dropped by 3.39 per cent to $1.24 billion from $1.29 billion, the BB data showed.
Talking to the BBN, another BB official said the falling trend in capital machinery import may continue in the coming months ahead of the upcoming general election.
“Most of the businessmen are now adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ policy in setting up fresh industrial units or expanding their existing businesses,” he noted.
However, import of intermediate goods, like - coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels etc, increased by 21.31 per cent to $1.09 billion in Q1 from $899.16 million.
Industrial raw material import also rose by 11.44 per cent to $4.70 billion during the period under review from $4.21 billion in the same period of FY 18.
“Higher import of petroleum products may continue in the coming months following a rising trend in both prices and quantity,” Syed Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), said while explaining the overall import situation.
He also said imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have pushed up the country’s overall import expenses despite a falling trend in consumer goods.
However, import of food grains, particularly of rice and wheat, dropped by 45.65 per cent to $303.56 million from $558.57 million.
Import of consumer goods decreased by 28.16 per cent to $1.24 billion during the period under review from $1.72 billion, the BB data showed.
Besides, import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 8.81 per cent growth to $1.33 billion during the period under review from $1.22 billion in the same period of the FY 18.
“Machinery for other sectors and intermediate goods for industrial consumption also increased substantially, showing signs of boosting production in future,” the BB official explained.
BBN/SSR/AD