Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The central bank of Bangladesh has increased the limit of opening letter of credit (LC) without SWIFT advice for coal import through only land ports, official said Wednesday.
Under the new provisions, importers are allowed to open LC covering value to US$10,000 from $7,500 without using SWIFT mechanism for coal through land ports.
"We've relaxed the rules in line with the importers requirement," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the BB’s latest move may help reducing coal import costs.
The central bank has already issued a circular in this connection and asked all commercial banks to follow the instruction for opening LC for coal import.
“It has been decided to relax the upper limit of FE Circular No. 11/2012 and enhance the upper limit of LC up to
US$ 10,000 from US$ 7,500 for import of coal through land without using SWIFT,” the circular said.
Bangladesh imports around 1.0 million tonnes coal from Meghalaya of India each year through seven to eight land ports and LC stations across the country, according to the market operators.