Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’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, officials said.
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.
The settlement of LCs, generally known as actual import, dropped by 14.19 per cent during the period over the previous month of this calendar year.
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 overall import normally falls after announcement of the national budget and the Ramadan,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) explained. “Such declining trend of import may continue this month but it is expected to rise in the month of September.”
BBN/SSR/AD-29Aug14-12:53 pm (BST)
