Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh’s overall import payment fell further in April this year over the previous month due mainly to lower trend of fuel oil and food grains imports, officials said.
“The declining trend of import may continue by the end of June this year,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, adding that import of some essentials including sugar, edible oil, onion, pulses and dates was likely to increase in the coming months due mainly to the Holy Ramadan.
Opening of letters of credit (LCs) against import, generally known as import orders, decreased by 7.49 per cent in April over March 2012, while the settlement of overall LCs, generally known as actual imports, also dropped by over 6.0 per cent, according to the central bank statistics.
LCs against import worth $2.784 billion were opened in April against $3.009 billion of the previous month. Besides, import LCs worth $2.685 billion were settled in the fourth month of this calendar year, compared to $2.870 billion in March last, the BB data showed.
“Both opening and settlement of LCs for petroleum product imports have decreased in the month of April, compared to the previous month due to lower demand for the fuel oils,” the BB official said.
The import orders for fuel oils dropped by nearly 12 percent to $325.23 million in April from $368.70 million in March last. Besides, LCs against petroleum products import worth $472.84 million were settled in April against $ 516.65 million of the previous month.
The central banker also said import of food grains, particularly rice, has almost stopped excepting aromatic rice which is used by luxurious hotels and restaurants.
BBN/SSR/AD-09May12-7:30 am (BST)
